Dreamer
by Angels of Twilight
Summary: School is a castle. Many of the kids are creatures. Goths? Vampires. Preps? Witches. Everyone else? An assortment of beings. This is the kind of fantasy world that Bella Swan lives in every day. But what if it's not? And what part does she play in it? AU.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, a whopping three people voted on my poll, so I guess I'll go with the majority (2) vote…And here it is! This is one of the newer story ideas I've come up with, so let's just get started, shall we?**

**By the way, I've finished my first semester of college and am on break until January 18, so the more feedback I get per chapter for this story, the more of my time will be spent writing these chapters. :)**

_**Full Summary: **__**School is a castle. The kids are creatures. Goths? Vampires. Preps? Witches. Everyone else? An assortment of fantastical beings. This is the kind of fantasy world that Bella Swan lives in every day. But what if it's not? And what part does she play in this world invisible to the human eye?**_

_**Dreamer**_

**Chapter 1: The School**

_The castle is amazing_

_In the light of the moon, waning._

_The halls are quiet,_

_If just for the moment_

_Until its wonderful creatures come a-playing._

Well, that's one way to describe my school. The halls are filled with every kind of being known to the human imagination. The classrooms range from outside fields to dark, dank dungeons, and anything imaginable in between. Except it's really nothing like that, no matter how I wish it were.

In reality, it's not a castle. It's the average small town high school, with the average students, the average drama, and the average cliques that make life for everyone outside of them, like me and my small group of friends, living hell. My life is just like everyone else's. I wake up in the morning, get ready for school, go through my classes, come home, and go to bed. Whoop-de-doo.

My dad, Charlie, has always said I have vivid imagination. Even when I was a little girl, I would always tell him about the unicorns in the forest behind our small house, the Pegasus that flies over town, the goblins that steal the rocks out of the yard, the werebeasts that constantly roam around, and even the elves that live far into the forest and use their huge house as a sanctuary for creatures trying to find their way in the world. He never believed a bit of it, but he did admit, just once, that it would be nice to live in the world in my head. Apparently it sounded a whole lot safer to him that reality.

I couldn't blame him, though. Being the police chief wasn't always sunshine and daisies, especially when the creatures started fighting. It never happened very often, and the department passed it off as gang wars leaking in from California. It never made sense to me, though. Why would they come all the way to Forks, Washington just to fight? Especially when they had to go through Oregon just to get here? I asked Charlie once, and he said it was less scary to think the problem would head back where it came from quickly, but it still didn't seem right. It was confusing, and Charlie refused to tell me any more, so I just dropped it.

Charlie brought me to school in the cruiser every day, and picked me up during his patrols to drop me off at home until he finished his shift. We stopped talking during those trips for a while after he yelled at me. I was telling him about everything that happened at school once. I was in seventh grade. I mentioned one of the vampire-looking goth kids at school and he blew up at me. He yelled and yelled all the way home, telling me I was too old to still believe in all that crap and to grow up.

Charlie never yelled.

After that day, it was a three word question, followed by a one word answer, and then silence until I got out and said goodbye. There was something strange about Charlie after that day, though. I would answer his question about how my day went, but when I didn't continue blabbering about all the different creatures and stuff, a fleeting look of longing would cross over his face. I knew he was upset that I didn't talk to him as much anymore, but it seemed like it was more than that. Like he actually enjoyed hearing about it just as much as I enjoyed telling it. I never did again, though. To this day, the first day of my senior year, he still seems to miss my stories.

Charlie pulled up to the school and I stepped out, saying a quick goodbye as I did so. I looked back at him when he didn't answer to see him staring at me.

"What?" I asked, warily. This wasn't like Charlie. He looked like he had something to say, but couldn't find the words. He stayed silent, and I felt my pulse quicken in worry.

"Dad?" He shook his head, breaking himself free of whatever thought train he was on.

"It's nothing, Bells," he said, shaking his head again and avoiding my gaze. He was lying.

"It's something, and I'd like to know what it is before it ruins my whole school day," I said, knowing he would be more inclined to spill if he thought his secret would interfere with my learning. He sighed loudly and looked down at his lap before looking up at me again.

"You're turning eighteen in a week, Bells," he said, giving me a small smile that stopped half way to his eyes. That wasn't it.

"And?" I asked, letting him know I knew he was still hiding something. He hesitated for a few seconds before sighing again, even louder if it were possible.

"There's…something I need to talk to you about before then, okay? I'm going to be home a little early tonight, so I was thinking it would be the best time," he finally admitted, looking at me sadly.

"What about?" I asked hoping for a little more info. The bell rang just as Charlie opened his mouth.

"Later," he said, seeming relieved at the timing. "Now, get to class before you're late." I smiled at him and waved as I walked up the sidewalk. He waved back before driving away, leaving me to fend for myself.

I clutched my books tightly to my chest and almost sprinted for the doors when I saw who else was still outside. I wasn't afraid of very many of the beings that went to this school, but those one? Hell yes.

The humans at Forks High call them cheerleaders. I don't. Witches is a much more suiting term, what with the bright glow of magic in them and hexing and all. Jessica and Lauren walked over to me, smiling menacingly to each other. I walked even faster but they still managed to beat me to the doors and blocked my way.

"Hey, Bella. What's the rush?" Lauren said, her nasally voice suiting her ugly attitude. I looked to the ground, trying to disappear with all my might. It didn't work.

"I'm going to be late," I answered simply. None of the nonhumans really talked to me, outside of my friends, but these two went out of their way to scare the crap out of anyone they could. I guess today was my lucky day.

"Oh, now we wouldn't want that, would we, Lauren?" Jessica asked, turning to her.

"No, of course not! That would be terrible!" Lauren answered. They smiled devilishly before Jessica lunged at me, grabbing for my bag. She caught on to the front and yanked it off my shoulder. I held onto the strap, but another hand shot out from behind me, making me let go. I looked at who had snuck up on me to see another creature to add to the list of who scared me. He had coppery-colored hair, pale-as-snow skin, and deep gold eyes that were quickly turning black as he glared at Lauren and Jessica. He had my bag dangling from his hand as he stood there like a God dropped from heaven.

"Let go," he said stiffly to Jessica. She stared at him, my bag slipping from her grasp, before looking down at her manicure. Her faced twisted in rage.

"Oh, my God! The little bitch broke my nail!" yelled Jessica.

She lunged at me again and I took a step back, falling to the ground. The guy took a step towards me, his now black eyes looking at me with no emotion whatsoever. I shuffled back, my own fear-flooded ones darting between him and the two witches still standing by the door. They were staring at the new boy now, and I could see them mentally stripping him where he stood. The one thing that caught my attention about him, besides the Godliness, was a strange red glow, kind of like the witches' yellow one that told me what they were. His had a halo of gold around it, and I had no idea what it meant. Usually the vampires had red, but none of the ones I'd seen had any gold. He took another step towards me and away from them when they finally realized he was paying them absolutely no attention. Lauren walked over to me and grabbed my arm, and what sounded suspiciously like a growl escaped from the guy's throat.

And that was the last straw.

I broke out of Lauren's clawed grasp and bolted for the door, not caring that the new guy still had my bag. I had a fleeting look at his confused, regretful, and slightly shocked face as I ran past and burst through the doors. I ran down the hallway, past the office and right to my locker, echoes of "Bella actually looks awake today!" and "Reality isn't good enough for THAT girl" following me. I opened it as quickly as I could and grabbed whatever I had in there before slamming it shut and darting down the hall to my English class. I sat down at my desk near the window in the front row and rested my forehead against the cool desktop. I raised my head as footsteps approached and saw my teacher, Ms. Hart, sit down at her desk. She was a white witch, much different from the two outside. Her glow was white, with a little green tint swirling around. She gave me a small smile that I returned before I turned towards the window.

Vines were growing around the windows, framing them in green. Purple flowers popped up every now and then shading the brick walls in light purple. The trees grew right up to the walls and the branches lightly swayed back and forth with the almost nonexistent breeze. The wildflowers were just started to lose their petals and the leaves of the trees were losing their green luster.

I blinked, bringing myself back to the stained white walls and metal desks of the school. The trees moved away from the school walls, there were no vines outlining the windows, and the grass outside was overgrown. It had started raining while I zoned out, bringing my mood down with ever drop slapping against the glass. Class was just starting and there was a knock at the door as Ms. Hart wrote on the whiteboard. She tilted her head in confusion and opened the door, my eyes widening when I saw who was on the other side.

The guy from outside, and he still had my bag.

"Can I help you?" Ms. Hart said, sounding slightly flustered as she looked at him. He nodded once and showed her my bag.

"That young lady left this outside," his velvet voice said, nodding his head at me. Ms. Hart gestured me over and I got up slowly, my heartbeat quickening as I walked over. I gingerly reached out to take my bag, glancing up at his face just for a moment. My gaze fixed on his glow, confusion flitting over my face as well as his.

"Uh…Thanks," I said quietly. He gave me a crooked grin, amusement and confusion fighting for control in his eyes as he looked down at me. I was a good foot shorter than him, so he had no choice.

"You're welcome…" he trailed off.

"Bella," I answered quickly, a blush rising instantly to my cheeks. I glanced at him again and he nodded to me, extending his hand.

"Edward. Nice to meet you, Bella," he-_Edward_–answered. I gave him a small smile as I took his hand, giving it a small shake. A spark travelled up my arm as our skin touched, his much cooler than my own. The sudden flash of surprise told me he felt it too.

"Well, thank you for returning Ms. Swan's bag, young man, but I must start my class," Ms. Hart said, politely telling him to leave. I inclined his head to her.

"I apologize for the interruption. Have a good day," he said, before turning a walking to his class.

Ms. Hart shut the door and I practically ran to my desk, my face flaming. The rest of the class was quiet, but I could feel their eyes burning into the back of my head. They started whispering as soon as the teacher turned to the whiteboard, finishing what she had been writing.

"_Who does she think she is, talking to someone like him?_"

"_She's no one. How did she get _him _to talk to her?_"

"_I hope she realizes she's not good enough for someone like him._"

I sank down in my chair and sighed.

I considered myself a seer, being able to see what everyone else missed. The world around us was so much more than what everyone else limited their sight too, but I embraced it. I saw inside people, saw who they really were, but they had no idea. I didn't tell them, they'd just call me crazy.

They already called me a dreamer.

**A/N: Chapter one down, and I have no idea how many more to go… Like I said, this is my newest story and I hope you like it!**

**Please review and tell me what you think! :)**

_**Angels of Twilight**_


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Well, not a whole lot of feedback, but I guess it's to be expected for the first chapter. I've been really sick lately, so the story was a little neglected…but I'm doing better now, so the story must go on! :)**

**Chapter 2: Lunch**

_Whether in a room or on the lawn,_

_It is the same after every dawn._

_The groups get together._

_It's been the same forever._

_And it will continue on._

I sat at my usual table all by myself. It was a routine for the first day of school. Sure, I had my circle of friends, but I always felt like I was intruding on something. Being friends with creatures who seemed to have nothing to talk about on the first day as long as I was sitting there kind of hinted to me that I should probably sit by myself until they were all caught up with whatever they wouldn't say with me around. How confusing did that just sound?

Anyway, I sat there eating a turkey sandwich, letting my eyes roam over the rest of the people in the room. Nymphs, sprites, elves, trolls, shape-shifters, werebeasts, pixies, witches, warlocks, sorcerers, elementals, fairies, vampires…and then the average humans thrown in every now and then. They always sat together, like they unconsciously knew the dangers that were around them, but I never joined them. Just like they seemed to know about the beings, they seemed to know I was different too. I didn't know what I was, but I was definitely a little less-or more- than human.

I looked over to where my friends were sitting. They were deep in what looked to be a very serious conversation. Angela was a nymph, a little elemental that can control a specific element of nature. Mike and Ben were sprites. Nymphs, sprites, pixies and fairies could all control an element or two, they just looked different and have little quirks that separate them. I think there was something more, but I had no idea what it was. My instinct was all that allowed me to tell who was what according to their glow.

That abruptly brought my train of thought back to the boy from this morning. Edward, with his mixed glow, strange gold eyes, and pale skin, had everything to be considered a vampire, but that gold in his glow and his eyes was really throwing me off. He was really handsome, but I couldn't get over the fact that I didn't know what he was. It made me wonder if there were more like him.

"Hi!" a high-pitched voice said from right next to me.

I jumped a foot off my stool and fell to the ground, landing with a loud _thump_ as my bag followed. I looked up to see a small, dark haired girl staring at me. Her hair was short and spiky, her glow the same color as Edward's. She had her hand over her mouth as she looked down at me with-…_gold eyes_. I stared up at her in shock as someone else started picking me up, scaring me again. I jumped out of their grip and smacked my head against the stool I had previously been sitting on. Stars flashed before my eyes for a few seconds, but quickly faded.

"Are you okay?" a slightly familiar voice asked, a hand landing gently on my shoulder. I looked up to see Edward looking down at me, concern all over his face. He kneeled down next to me and I put my hand to the back of my head. It was pulsing slightly, but there was nothing when I pulled my hand back.

"Let me," Edward's soft voice said. He reached towards me slowly and I kept myself from flinching away, but only just. He put his hand gently on the sides of my head and bent my head forward. He moved my hair away and prodded a little. I hissed in pain when he touched one spot and he stopped there.

"I don't see anything. You'll be a little sore tomorrow, though," he said quietly, leaning back. I nodded once and he offered me his hand. I took it slowly, hesitantly, my eyes stuck on his glow. I just couldn't get over it, even in this situation. I glanced up at him quickly, confusion flitting across his face like it had the first two times we met.

"I don't mean to sound harsh, but…what do you keep staring at?" he asked, making my face burn. I turned away quickly and shook my head as he helped me up. I sat back down on my seat and the girl sat down next to me.

"I'm so sorry I scared you! I didn't mean it! Hi, I'm Alice! Who are you?" she said quickly, giving me no time to comment. I stared at her with my mouth open for a few moments before I closed it.

"Alice, slow down. Give her a moment," Edward said from next to me. He had taken the stool on my other side and was still looking at me curiously. I looked back at the girl-Alice, I guess-and she was waiting expectantly for me to answer.

"B-…Bella," I said hesitating. She smiled brightly, bouncing in her seat. "And it's fine. I just…didn't expect anyone to talk to me." Her smile dimmed a little, but immediately brightened again.

"Well, we saw you all by yourself, and Edward said he met you this morning, so we decided to come over." She quickly turned to Edward, her eyes blank for just a moment before brightening again. "Rose, Em, and Jazz are on their way. They should be here in a few." He nodded in response and I just kept glancing between them. Edward noticed my confusion and smiled gently.

"Rosalie, Emmet, and Jasper are our brothers and sister," he explained. He glanced over his shoulder and then back to me. "Here they come now."

I looked towards the door and my mouth dropped open again. A platinum blonde runway model was walking towards us, a man like the hulk with his arm around her small waist. Another blonde was walking slightly apart from them, his hair slightly shaggy and his face a mask. All three had the same pale skin, gold eyes, and red and gold glow. All three sat down, the blonde boy sat down next to Alice, wrapping his arm around her and gave me a confused glance.

"Who's this?" the girl asked harshly, looking right at me. I looked away, unable to meet her fierce gaze.

"Oh, Rosie, don't be like that," the big bear said, kissing her cheek. So much for being just brothers and sisters…

"This is Bella! She and Edward met outside school this morning!" Alice said brightly, seemingly taking no notice of her sister's attitude towards me.

"Bella," Edward said, drawing my attention to him, "these are my brothers, Emmett," the big one, "and Jasper" the blonde one. "This, as you may have guessed, is Rosalie." I looked at each in turn as Edward introduced them, except for Rosalie. Emmett waved excitedly, throwing me off guard, and Jasper gave me a calm smile. I just looked at the table in front of Rosalie. Edward seemed to notice my fear of her and put a hand on my shoulder.

"She's not so bad once you get used to her attitude," he said, drawing her glare to himself. He just gave her a smirk and turned back to me. He had a half-hidden puzzled look on his face and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Now you're the one staring," I said rather boldly. He gave me a crooked smile and a small laugh. Emmett's laugh boomed from across the table, making me jump again.

"That is incredibly rude, Eddie," Emmett said, earning a sharp glare from Edward. Even Jasper gave a small chuckle.

"I was wondering what you could have found so interesting every time we met today. Something always seemed to confuse you," he replied. He looked thoughtful before speaking again.

"It was like…you were looking right through me, like you could see something normal people cannot," he shook his head and laughed. "That sounded worse out loud than it did in my head." I smiled back and Emmett boomed again, looking at me.

"He reads too many romance novels. We'll have to apologize in advance for him and any overly romantic spews that come out of his mouth," I smiled and shook my head, feeling completely at ease.

"Well, I guess you could say that. You and the rest of your family here seem…different…than everyone else. I just can't put my finger on what it is," I replied shaking my head and looking down at the table, my blush returning in force.

"Oh? And is this a _good_ thing?" he said, raising an eyebrow at me. I shrugged and nodded.

"I guess so. I'm talking to you, right?" He chuckled lightly and nodded.

"You shouldn't be," a nasally female voice said. I turned slightly to see Lauren and Jessica glaring daggers at me, their glows writhing in anger.

"And why shouldn't she be?" Edward said harshly. They seemed surprised by his tone and went right back to looking at me.

"She doesn't deserve to talk to people like you," Lauren purred, or tried to.

She strutted over to Edward and stood behind him, leaning down so her chest was practically in his face. She put her hand on the side of his neck and drew her finger down the middle of his chest. He grabbed her by her wrists and removed her hands from him.

"Back. Up." Edward said tersely. Lauren smirked and moved forward even more. Edward stood up abruptly and tried to keep her an arm's length away.

"Oh, Edward, why are you being like this? You know you want me. Why deny it?" she said, trying to sound sexy. It wasn't working. Edward wrinkled his face in disgust.

"Go away, Lauren," he said, letting go of her wrists. He stood next to me and glared at her. She huffed and turned tossing her hair over her shoulder as she went back over to Jessica. Both of them turned to me again and glared, their cores writhing even faster.

"You've messed with the wrong people, _Isabella_. You don't deserve to talk to him, and we will make sure you know it," Lauren said.

"Get out of here, you little whore!" Alice shouted, sounding like she was holding in a growl. Lauren just smirked at me again before twitching away. I'm not kidding, either. Her hips twitched from side to side like something was broken. Alice and Edward sat back down, Edward sitting closer to me than he had before. He looked at me worriedly and I gave him a small smile.

"Don't listen to her, Bella," Alice said. She was giving me the same look as Edward. "She's just a witch that wants to get into the pants of anything male. Edward just so happens to be her next target." I just smiled and shook my head, wondering if she knew just how close she was with the "witch" thing.

"It's okay. She's right, anyway. People like you usually don't talk to people like me," I said, looking down at the table again, my hands in my lap.

"We're talking to you now, aren't we?" Alice said with a smirk as she used my own words against me. I gave her a small smile back. "And besides, you said we were different from everyone else. I guess you're right, because we plan to keep talking to you as long as you let us. We're friends now, right?" My smile grew and I nodded my head.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. And it would be nice to have more than three friends," I sighed, grabbing my bag and my tray.

"Where are you going?" Edward asked, looking at me confused.

"Well, the bell's going to ring soon, so I figured I should get rid of my tray." He gave me a small smile.

"Do you mind if I join you? We have Biology together after lunch." I shrugged and he stood. I dumped my tray and we left the lunchroom together, my heart swelling at the thought of my new friends. Now all I had to worry about was this mystery conversation with Charlie after school…Great…

**A/N: Okay, so before anyone asks,**

**Nymphs: minor female deities/spirits who inhabited the mountains, woods, waters and seas. They are literally forces of nature.**

**Sprites: the most common type of faerie, with glistening membranous wings. They are usually about the size of large insects and love to live in forests with calm, cool weather.**

**Pixies: slightly smaller than fairies and prefer to live in their own garden away from people. They have wings, but are not immortal.**

**Fairies: slightly larger than a pixie, with wings and supposed magical powers to grant gifts upon newborn babies. They can also change different aspects of nature.**

**Both fairies and pixies try to stay away from humans and large cities. Wooded areas are preferred and they are supposed to be allergic to silver.**

**Hopefully that answers any questions about the differences. And with the shape-shifters and werebeasts, werebeasts can only change into one animal. Shape-shifters can change into any animal they want. There are more creatures than this, but they seem to be slipping my mind at this moment…**

**Merry Christmas!**

**Or, if that's not your holiday,**

**Have a Happy ****Insert Holiday of Choice Here****!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The Talk and the Attack**

_Whether in words_

_Or in deeds,_

_Time with family_

_Is all someone needs._

Charlie picked me up after gym last period. I was greatly embarrassed to find out that I also had that class with Edward and, coincidentally, the rest of his family. Edward and I were on the same team for volleyball, and I was surprised to discover Edward had good reflexes. I was incredibly happy about that, seeing as though I would have hit him in the back of the head about five times throughout the whole game. He just brushed it off like it was nothing, but my face was on fire the entire period. The rest of his family thought it was hilarious every time he ducked down when I served.

Eventually, Coach Clap decided to let me skip serving when we rotated positions, and the whole gym cheered. I tried to stay away from the ball as much as possible, and Edward noticed my aversion. He made sure to get in front of it each time it flew towards me. Edward walked me out to the cruiser and introduced himself to Charlie.

"Hello, Chief Swan. I'm Edward Cullen," he said smoothly. Charlie just gave him a look as he stood next to me, Edward's hand outstretched towards him. He took it slowly, sizing Edward up before looking at me.

"Hello. You're one of Carlisle's kids?" Charlie asked, obviously making an effort. I could see his mind assuming the worst- that we were dating.

"Yes, sir," Edward replied politely, nodding once.

"Edward and his siblings sat with me today at lunch," I said, trying to subtly ease his thoughts. It seemed to work as his shoulders visibly slumped.

"Oh, well it's nice to hear that you're making new friends, Bells," he practically sighed. I just gave him a small smile and shook my head.

Charlie and Edward kept talking, everything from school and college to where Edward moved from and his family. I saw his brothers and sisters come out of the school finally, each wrapped around their other. I raised an eyebrow, and Edward seemed to read my mind.

"We're all adopted. Nothing between blood brothers and sisters going on," he said, a crooked smile on his face.

"Ah, okay then. That makes a little more sense," I said, nodding slowly, tilting my head to the side. Edward chuckled and shook his head. He continued talking to Charlie as his family made their way towards us. It was nice to see Charlie talking civilly to a boy who was my friend…for once…

I smiled and waved at Alice as she danced over. She hooked her arm through mine and started chattering away so fast, all I could do was smile and nod to show I was at least trying to pay attention. I glanced at Charlie and his face turned serious for just a second. It changed so fast, I almost thought I had imagined it. I looked at Edward and saw him tilt his head slightly in acknowledgement, reassurance…something like that. So, I hadn't imagined it…But what was that about?

"Bella?" Alice said from next to me. I looked back at her and smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry, I spaced. It's been a long day," I responded. She just smiled and looked at Edward and Charlie.

"Let's get going, Bells," Charlie said, walking towards the driver's side of the cruiser.

"Okay, Charlie. See you guys tomorrow," I said, turning to the Cullens. They waved back as I got in the car, except for Rosalie, and I smiled.

They started for their own cars and I turned to Charlie, my faced showing my apprehension about this little conversation we were supposed to have. He surprised me by leaning over and reaching into the glove box, taking a small leather-bound book out. He handed it to me and I turned it over in my hands.

"What's this?" I asked, my faced scrunched in confusion. He gave me a sad, regretful smile.

"Just read it. I'll tell you afterwards," Charlie said sadly. He pulled away from the sidewalk and concentrated on the road ahead of us, leaving me with the book and my thoughts.

I opened the cover, trying not to wince as the old binding creaked with the strain, and lightly ran my fingers over the first page. The writing was a fluid script, nothing like Charlie's, but that wasn't what really caught my attention. It was the first two words.

_The Seers_

I couldn't believe it. I glanced at Charlie, but he didn't look away from the road. I flipped through the first few pages and my eyes just kept widening.

_A fairytale world made of all sorts of creatures with core glows that hold their power, and one race with the ability to tell the difference just from looking at them. This race is made up of one family from each region, with that family, and the rest of the creatures, answering to the rulers of this world. This select group is known as the Seers, those who can harness the powers of all the other creatures and use them as their own, those who can see everything that makes up who and what that creature is. As the Seer gets older he or she will slowly develop the different abilities of the other races, the first of which is the ability to actually see this world existing alongside the human world. Arcadia is the one place where the magical can thrive without persecution or false identities._

_Welcome to our world._

And that was just the introduction. The bottom of the page was signed, but I couldn't read the name. I flipped farther into the book and skimmed the pages, amazed at the wealth of information Charlie had just given me.

It had everything anyone could ever want to know about any of the creatures in the other world. Arcadia, I guess it's called.

And it had everything about me. A Seer. Everything I was able to do was in that book, and everything I would learn to as well. The part that scared me the most was at the very end of the passage about Seers.

_The Seers are constantly in danger from those who envy their powers…_

It continued on after that for a good long paragraph, but I didn't read it. I couldn't handle knowing that, too. I looked over at Charlie again, and he finally glanced at me from the corner of his eye.

"Charlie…" I whispered, something dawning on me. "All that time…" He nodded and sighed softly.

"I knew. The whole time, I knew." I could hear the regret dripping from his words. He sighed again, louder this time.

"Every story you told me…I knew what you were seeing. I knew it wasn't just your imagination. But it scared me. It scared me to death…You shouldn't have been able to see any of what you did when you were little. The sight kicks in when you turn into a teenager…You were so young…I had no idea what to do about it. And with your mother gone, I had no one to talk about it with without having to leave you," he whispered.

"Wh-…What does that mean?" I asked, my heart beating faster and faster. I had no idea how to take what was happening, and Charlie was not known for his ability to explain things.

"It means…you're a bigger target than I am. It means…you need to be protected. It explains why…why I contacted the Cullens to come here." He turned into our driveway and stopped, putting the car in park and turning towards me in his seat.

"I asked them to come here and protect you." My eyes widened as my anger rose.

"Charlie! How could you do that?" I screamed. He shook his head, trying to find the right words as I fumed next to him.

"I…I didn't know what else to do, Bells…Carlisle and I are old friends, so I asked him if he could help me keep you safe…He agreed, so they moved here…" he stuttered, refusing to look at my face. I immediately felt bad for yelling and getting mad at him. He was just being a good father and doing what he thought best, and I was yelling at him for it.

"Charlie…" I started, much more softly than before, "I'm sorry I yelled." He gave me a sad smile.

"It's okay, Bells. I should have told you about this so much sooner…as soon as I knew something was going to happen…" That got my attention again.

"What is going to happen, Charlie?" I asked slowly. He hesitated and sighed.

"…I have no idea," he said in a rush. My eyes widened again.

"What do you mean by that?" I almost yelled. He flinched and squeezed his eyes shut before quickly opening them again.

"I don't know what's after you, but I know something is wrong. Something is coming, and it's not coming for a party unless it's your funeral. Whatever it is, it's getting closer every day. I can feel it, and so can they," he said somberly, wishing his words weren't true.

"They?" I asked. He gave me a small smile.

"The Cullens. They are a special breed of vampire, and they have a unique ability to sense changes in the environment, like when something bloodthirsty and malicious is getting too close to their territory. It's more of a protection of territory ability, but they use it to help protect the Seers in this area, which happen to be you and me at the moment," he finished in a rush. He turned and glanced over his shoulder.

"Go in the house and I'll be back in a few minutes," he said, talking slowly and seriously. He never turned back from looking over his shoulder, making me worry that something was wrong.

"Charlie?" I said hesitantly. He didn't turn around.

"Go, Bells. Now," he commanded.

I opened the door, still looking at the back of his head, and got out. I dropped my bag and the book on the ground, dashing back in and wrapping my arms around Charlie from behind, having a bad feeling about the future. He patted my hands and kissed the side of my head, a single tear running down his cheek as he pushed me out of the car.

"I'll be back," he said softly. I wasn't sure if he was trying to convince himself or me. It didn't work either way.

Charlie skidded back out of the driveway, heading back towards the main road. I was tempted to run after him, but didn't, not moving at all until I couldn't see the cruiser anymore.

I picked up my bag and Charlie's book, putting the book inside for safe keeping. I ran into the house and set my bag down by the door, with no idea what to do with myself. My father had just sped off to "investigate" something no one knew anything about. I had just discovered what I was, and that Charlie had known about the word I could see all this time, even though he had tried to convince me that I was just imagining it. I met new friends who turned out to be bodyguards hired by my dad to protect me from some unknown danger that everyone but me seemed to know about…-

And that's when I felt it. A…blackness…slowly making its way to me. It was like a poison had been injected into the Earth, and it was flowing through the ground to get to me. Its evil seemed to momentarily kill anything and everything around it. The world screamed in agony wherever this thing touched it.

But then it stopped.

Whatever held all of this pure evil just…_stopped_.

I stood, rooted in place, waiting for it to move again. I almost wished it would. I could feel the Earth dying under its feet as it continued to stand still. I didn't even know if it had feet, but it felt right. My image felt right, but whatever this thing was was the definition of wrong. It shouldn't exist as it was, but yet it did.

A sudden pain lanced through my chest and I gasped, falling to my knees with my hands clutching my chest. I fell to my side and brought my legs up as close to me as I possibly could as an intense burning filled me. It felt like something had been ripped right out of me…_or from me…_

I gasped again, an image of Charlie right before he left, a single tear on his face, popping up before my eyes. His words about coming back, how he said them and what his face told me while he did, playing over and over again. The way he patted my hands and kissed my head, accepting and returning my gesture of love instead of shrinking from the contact as he usually would slapping me across the face as it mocked me, telling me silently that I should have seen this coming. I should have stopped him.

At that moment, I knew. I didn't need anyone to tell me. I knew, from the bottom of my very soul, I knew what had just happened. I knew, even as I blacked out, that Charlie, my father, the only person I had left of my family, the only person I had to take care of me and to take care of, was dead.

_Earlier that day…_

I hadn't expected to enjoy myself as much as I did that first day back at school, but Bella made it much more enjoyable. Sure, it was because of her jumpiness and her habit of tripping over nothing, but it was a welcome change from the grace and all-knowingness of my family. The fact that we could surprise her and the feeling of responsibility to catch her when she fell was very refreshing. It easily clouded over the real reason why we were there and befriending her to begin with.

Charlie had made it clear the day he called Carlisle that he knew something terrible was going to happen, that Bella was in grave danger. As in, if we couldn't protect her, she would end up in her grave. Carlisle was more than happy to help Charlie, even if the reason for the need wasn't exactly a positive one.

I was surprised this morning to find that Bella's mind, unlike every other creature and human, was completely blocked from my ability. I knew Seers were supposed to be powerful, but she was the strongest I had ever known. And I had known quite a few. Charlie had warned Carlisle, but we had shrugged it off. We thought we'd seen it all.

We were wrong.

Alice and Jasper still had influence on her, but I had nothing. I could tell she got a little flustered when she looked at all of us, and it wasn't because we were "different," as she called it. I could tell that she was seeing something more, and Jasper confirmed that for me. None of us could figure out what it was, though. She shouldn't have been able to see our core glows until the day she turned eighteen, but it seemed like that was exactly what had her attention.

I finally got to talk to Charlie face-to-face as Bella and I left the gym. We had a little small-talk while Bella stood there, and she seemed happy that we were talking. What she couldn't hear was the completely separate conversation we were having mentally.

_Carlisle filled you and your siblings in on what's going on?_

_**Yes. We are fully aware of what you are sensing, sir. We felt it as soon as we stepped foot in Washington.**_

_It's that close already?_

_**Yes**__._

_I can't tell how close it is yet, but I know it's not too far._

_**It is closer than we would like. It is attempting to cloak its presence, but too late. It is only about one hundred miles away, Charlie, and moving fast.**_

_What are you hinting at, Edward?_

_**It should be here within the day. We got here in time, but only just.**_

_Then you know what to do. If or when your sister sees it arrive, take Bella. I will stay behind until you can get her away and behind Esme's shield. He won't be able to find her then._

_**I understand. We will protect her, Charlie. You do not need to worry about your daughter.**_

_Thank you, Edward. I owe you and your family so much more than what I could possibly repay._

_**It is our job, Charlie, and we would never say no, to you or anyone like you. You are our friend. You owe us nothing.**_

And then they left.

All of us got home quickly. Not ten minutes later, Alice had the vision we had been waiting for. Charlie was going to die, but we could do nothing about it without putting Bella in danger. We rushed to her house just as she collapsed on her side, her legs pressed up against her chest. She quickly blacked out and I scooped her up off the floor, not having the liberty of caution or much in the way of being careful. We had to get her out of there as fast as we could. I saw Alice grab the bag on the floor next to her, the book inside pulsing with untapped knowledge and power. We ran quickly back to the house, slowing down only once we were within the boundary of Esme's shield.

I looked down at the unconscious girl in my arms, pitying her for what she was about to go through. Her life, in just a single moment, had changed forever. There was no going back.

**A/N: I really have nothing to say here, but I'd really like to thank all of you for the support you've shown my stories. It really means a lot and keeps me inspired to think of even more. I really enjoy writing for you guys, and I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I think you do. So with that, have a happy new year!**

_**Angels of Twilight**_


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: Waking**

_Life is what you make it, even if you don't realize it when it happens._

Charlie was dead.

That was the only thought my mind could process as I drifted around in the blackness before my eyes. My father was dead, and my life had been ripped apart. With one little book, my life had been flipped on its head. Everything I knew had been a lie, and now the one person who could have helped me through it all had died trying to protect me from something so evil, it killed the earth around it. I could still feel the gaping hole in my chest when it killed him, like it ripped a whole part of my body out, leaving only a shell of who and what I had been. It thumped with the beating of my wounded heart, and my mind hurt with it.

The sound of murmurs slowly got louder. I didn't recognize any of the voices, but it was hard to tell what they were even saying. I felt someone touch what I thought to be my hand and another hand rested on my forehead. A blinding light invaded the blackness and I tried to turn, but the hand on my forehead kept me still.

"Bella?" a male voice said from right next to me. It sounded familiar, but my mind wouldn't give me a name or a face. The light went away for a second, and then came back again in my other eye.

"Bella, can you hear me?" This voice was completely unknown to me. It came from my other side. The hand holding mine squeezed gently. I tried to move my own hand, but only got a light twitch out of it.

"Bella, open your eyes," the familiar voice said gently. I could hear others whispering in the background, but they were too low for me to tell what they were saying. This one sounded so much softer than those, like velvet. I liked hearing him talk, but I knew he'd probably worry or get mad if I didn't listen. I tried to open my eyes, but nothing happened. I could feel the muscles in my face moving, like they forgot how to do what I was asking of them, but nothing was working right.

"Come on, Bella. You can do it," the voice pleaded gently, seemingly noticing my efforts.

He squeezed my hand again, or at least I thought it was him, but he didn't release this time. He held on while he talked gently to me, still pleading me to open my eyes for him. I kept trying and trying, but it was like I forgot how to do anything. It was like that…_thing_ ripped out something I couldn't live without, but now I would have to learn to function again, but this time on my own. He wouldn't be there to hold my hand as I learned about the world around me, about how things worked, about how to do different things, anything. I would have to learn about this world, this world I never thought truly existed outside my imagination, all by myself. Sure, I had the book to answer most of my questions, but-

No. I might not even have that. Unless whoever was with me now grabbed it when they found me, it was gone. I truly was alone in this. Who knew what these people knew about my world, my _real _world. The world I should have lived in my whole life. I couldn't involve them in whatever was going on. The monster that killed Charlie would do the same to them, and it would be my fault. I couldn't live with someone else getting hurt because they got close to me.

"Bella, please," the smooth voice pleaded, bringing me out of my depressed thoughts, "at least squeeze my hand. Do something to let me know you're awake." I hated the sound of him, whoever he was, being so worried about me. It made me feel guilty to know I was doing that to him, so I tried.

_Come on, hand. Squeeze! That's all he's asking. Just squeeze his hand!_

I kept sending my thoughts directly to my hand, hoping something would happen, but there was still nothing. My index finger might have flinched a little, but I couldn't even be sure of that. I tried and tried until I felt even my mind start to get annoyed with me. I didn't know how long it was, but eventually I decided to give it one last shot. I didn't have the strength to try much more.

I put all of my concentration in my hand. I lost feeling in every other part of my body except for that one section. My heart sped up faster and faster as I concentrated every ounce of energy I had left into that one small part of my body. My mind tunneled until just my hand and what I wanted kept repeating over and over, but I could still hear voices in the background. They were getting louder and sounding more and more panicked the faster my heart beat went. I could mentally see the energy building up in the muscles, tendons, and ligaments in my hand, slowly forcing them to relax and contract enough to get my hand to close. It seemed to take an agonizingly long time, and a larger amount of energy than I thought I had at that moment, but eventually, my fingers touched the smooth, cool skin of his hand. I mentally smiled at the accomplishment and let just a tiny bit of my attention out of my hand so I could understand the noises around me.

There was a rapid beeping sound, yelling, and a voice right next to my head whispering to me, urging me to do something, but I couldn't understand the words. I let myself concentrate a little more on the sounds, and almost screamed in frustration when my grip loosened. I could still feel the skin of his hand, but it still made me mad for some reason.

I mentally shook myself and tried to listen to the soft voice's words as he continued to speak to me. He still sounded worried, which confused me, and the beeping only got louder the more I tried to concentrate on hearing him. I felt myself getting angry as the beeping kept me from hearing him, and it got faster. That happened to make me angrier, and it increased again, like it was taunting me. I tried opening my eyes again, just to see what the heck it was, but, of course, they stayed shut. That made me even more mad, and I probably would have been shaking if I could. The beeping got louder and louder and I couldn't stand it. I wanted so bad to open my eyes, but they wouldn't listen to me. I kept trying and trying, getting more and more frustrated when they refused to even twitch. I pushed a burst of energy at them, from where I had no idea, and they finally opened. I didn't even have time to take in m surroundings before someone's face shot up in front of me.

"Bella?" the guy asked, his bronze hair, pale skin, and gold eyes sparking a memory. I knew him, but my mind still refused to tell me his name. I felt my eyes begin to close again and forced them open, feeling the effects of my struggles against my own body finally catching up with me.

"Bella, are you okay?" he asked, looking even more worried as I tried to keep my eyes open. I tried to respond, but I had nothing left. My mind was scattering little by little, but I could still hear what they were saying.

"She's just tired, Edward," the other voice said, trying to calm him. This person was out of my line of site, but now I knew the guy's name. I still couldn't remember anything about him. My mind wasn't letting me concentrate on anything. Edward's face didn't relax at all. The other man sighed softly.

"Edward, whatever that thing did to her, it took a large toll on her body. She shouldn't have been able to move at all yet, but she has. Be happy for that." Edward still didn't look very happy, but he sighed and lowered his head onto the side of the bed so that he was looking at me. I must have been propped up on pillows because I could still see him, his liquid gold gaze directed right at me.

"Fine," Edward said softly. The beeping had finally slowed, so I could hear him even though he whispered. He hadn't let go of my hand the whole time, but I couldn't keep it tight anymore. I let my hand loosen and he panicked for just a second, looking over my right shoulder and being relieved by whatever he saw there. I took a leap and guessed they had a heart monitor on me, but the thought was quickly lost as another wave of exhaustion crashed into me, scattering any strand of conscious thought. My eyes drooped again, but I didn't have enough energy to open them again. Edward laid his head back down on the bed and looked at me again, his face much more relaxed.

"Sleep, Bella," he said. The thought of letting go to that darkness again made my heart speed back up and he squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"It's okay, Bella. The hardest part is over. You can sleep," he said softly. My heart rate kept increasing and I wanted to shake my head, but I couldn't. I wanted to just lay there and listen to him talk to me, to tell me what happened, what was going on, but I couldn't fight it.

"Please sleep, Bella. I'm going to stay right here. You're not alone," he kept whispering to me. I still didn't want to, but it felt better knowing he wasn't going to leave. My eyes finally shut again and I instantly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep, Edward's hand still in mine.

I felt myself waking up, my conscious becoming more and more aware of my surroundings. I felt a hand in mine and tried to open my eyes, but they wouldn't budge. They gave a little twitch, but that was it. I tried my hand this time, and it was a little more cooperative. It closed slightly, brushing my fingertips against the skin of the hand in mine. I closed it a little more, effectively holding the hand. I felt the hand close in mine and the pressure on the bedside shift.

"Bella?" a soft voice asked. I tightened my grip more for just a moment to let him know I was awake and he sighed. I gave another harder push to open my eyes and they cracked open, letting in a thin stream of bright light. I sighed in relief as I blinked and opened them wider, seeing a smiling face appear next to me.

"Are you okay?" Edward asked, worry marring his beautiful face once again. I tried to give him a small smile, but his eyes told me it came more as a grimace. He sighed and ran his free hand through his penny hair before propping his head against his fist with his elbow on the bed.

"Carlisle said that your nervous system was fried when that thing…when it attacked. It reached through Charlie and into you, but he was able to fight it off so we could get you away. It's going to take a little effort to get everything working again, but it should go pretty quickly. Your body just has to remember how to do it," he said, explaining one of my many questions. My heart stopped for a moment when he mentioned it, but he continued, effectively distracting me. He answered another with his next comment.

"We aren't completely sure what it is, but we're guessing it's a sorcerer's puppet. They are made of pure black magic, and only the most powerful of sorcerers is able to summon them. Their entire existence is based off of their master's hate or desire to kill. It's what feeds them, keeps them able to function. Without it, they would slowly break apart until nothing was left." His face was pained from the facts that he was telling me, his face saying just how much he wished it wasn't true.

I wanted to comfort him, this almost complete stranger, and make the worry and concern in his eyes disappear. I had a strange need to make him happy, and I had no idea why. I just squeezed his hand again and made my head fall to the side so that I was facing him. He gave me a small smile and squeezed back once, confusion flashing through his eyes for just a fleeting second. I could have sworn he was feeling the same way I was, but mentally shook my head. I was crazy to think someone like him would care so strongly about my feelings. Sure, he asked me how I was doing when I woke up, but what else were you supposed to ask someone who had passed out not too long ago? Well, as far as I knew it wasn't too long. I really had no idea. The only thing my pessimistic mind had no explanation for was why he was still holding my hand. My optimism rejoiced that he hadn't left or seemed to have let go while I was out, and pessimism grumbled in the corner. I shook myself again, firmly believing that thing may have fried my systems more than we knew if I was imagining two parts of myself having an argument over a guy…

"Bella?" Edward said. I blinked and looked at him. "You really spaced just then. Are you okay?" I tried to nod yes, but nothing happened, so I blinked once. He gave a relieved smile and laid his head on the bed, his arm tucked under it. He closed his eyes like he was exhausted, so I took the time to finally look around the room I was in. I would have gasped if my vocal chords were responding.

The space was barely a room at all. Trees enclosed the entire space, making it just like a room with four walls. I could see one space about the size of a door in the trunk of a tree, which was actually two trees that had grown together about seven feet above the ground, their trunks artfully twisting around each other. Green vines decorated the ground and the trunks, small purple flowers blooming before my eyes as the sun slowly filtered through the trunks and branches. The light reflected off the dew on the ground and bathed the room in a soft green glow as it passed through the tree leaves. I could hear the gurgle of water not that far away and guessed we were near some sort of stream. It didn't sound loud enough to be a river. I looked up as much as I could, since my head still wouldn't really move, and felt my eyes widen. The tops of the trees had actually bent in over the clearing to create a ceiling. The thin branches wound around and through each other, weaving a strong cover for anyone taking shelter in here. I felt my lips twitch in an attempt to smile at the beauty of this place, but that was all that happened. I was okay with it, though. I was smiling on the inside. There was no way not to.

"You can really see it, can't you?" Edward asked, his voice reflecting the exhaustion I had seen earlier. My eyes moved to him and I tried to smile again, breathing a sigh of relief when my body finally cooperated. The corners of my mouth turned up just enough to let him know I was smiling, but it was enough for me. Well, for now at least.

"Can you bring it forward any time you want, or does it just happen?" he asked. I didn't know what he meant, and tried to bring my brows together to let him know. They must have twitched just enough, because I know they didn't do what I wanted, and he rephrased his question.

"When you see Arcadia, our world, does it happen randomly, or can you see it whenever you want?" I smiled to let him know I understood now, but I had no idea how to answer him. I hadn't even managed to open my mouth yet, let alone talk or make any kind of noise, and it wasn't exactly a yes or no question.

"Why don't you try to say something, and if it doesn't work, squeeze my hand once for random or twice for being able to choose?" he said, with a slight shrug. I gave him another small smile and attempted to talk.

I focused on my mouth and just trying to get it to open at first. I opened easily, probably since I already got it to move so I could smile, but making sound come out was the hard part. I sent all of my concentration to my throat, trying to make _something_ happen, and surprisingly, something did.

I, the ever-graceful and articulate Isabella Swan, squeaked.

Edward chuckled in response and tried his best to keep his laughter at that once he looked at my face. He quickly sobered and smiled innocently, making me feel the impulse to roll my eyes and shake my head. I did the former, since it was all I could do, and he almost started laughing again.

"I'm sorry, Bella. That was rude. Keep trying, though. If you can already make a sound, it bodes well for the rest of your recovery," he said. I blinked once, since I couldn't nod, and tried again. I focused my mind on saying just one word. I struggled and strained for a good five minutes before I finally got what I wanted.

"Ass."

I smiled in satisfaction and Edward exploded in laughter. He wrapped his arms around his stomach and threw his head back. I felt my own torso trying to tighten in laughter, but it took a few times before it did. My laughter was silent at first, but after a few false starts, my laughter joined Edward's. We quickly stopped and Edward looked at me with his head tipped slightly to the side. I swallowed.

"What?" I asked. His eyebrows shot up in shock for a moment before falling back down as his mouth turned up at the corners.

"I haven't laughed like that in a long time," he said, his eyes losing focus as he searched through his memories. I smiled, knowing I had brought him out of his worry.

"Good," I responded, trying to sound smug. It didn't really work, but he seemed to understand what I had been trying to do. He chuckled and gave me a crooked smile. I gave an involuntary yawn and he frowned, the black smudges under his eyes telling me he was just as tired as I was.

"Go to sleep, Bella. You've made a lot of progress today," Edward said, smiling sympathetically. I nodded once.

"You…should…too," I said, having to pause between the words to get them to come out. He smiled.

"I will." I nodded again and let my eyes close, feeling the exhaustion wash over me. Edward's hand slipped into mine again and I fell asleep with a smile on my face.

**A/N: Here's chapter 4! I have a new poll up about a new story idea, but I'm not going to be writing it anytime soon. I just want to know if it is an idea worth thinking about. Let me know what you think!**

_**Angels of Twilight**_


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Discoveries**

_You can only truly live your life when you can accept everything that makes you who you are._

"Bellllllaaaaaaaa…" someone crooned, bringing me out of my deep sleep.

I took a deep breath and tried to stretch, but only my arms would cooperate. It still felt just as good as a full stretch, though. I felt for the hand that hadn't left mine to find it gone, causing my eyes to shoot open. I looked around frantically, the girl I met at school standing next to my bed with another woman. She was giving me a sympathetic look and glanced down next to my bed. I followed her gaze and saw a small bed next to mine. Edward was sleeping deeply on it, the sheets wrapped around his body like he had been tossing and turning. His hair was spiked in all different directions, but his face was completely relaxed for the first time since that day at school. I looked back at the girl, trying to remember her name, but she beat me to it.

"I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Alice," she said quickly, her body trembling like she was trying to keep herself from bouncing all over the place.

"This is our mother, Esme," she continued, gesturing to the other woman, and I couldn't help but stare.

She looked like everyone's image of the perfect mother, with a caring face and soothing smile. She had soft caramel colored hair and gentle golden eyes. Her pale skin seemed to glow from within her. She looked like she was in her early twenties, but her eyes showed just how much knowledge and experience she really had. My vision slipped and I gasped at what she really looked like-or was it my imagination?

Anyway, she looked the same as she did normally, except she had a softly flowing gown on that fell to the floor and there was a slight point to the top of her ears. It clung to her body like skin, but was in no way flirtatious or slutty. There was a light blue sheen to the gown and it was hard to tell if it was actually there depending on how I looked at her. At one angle, it was just a light lavender color, but if I changed the angle ever so slightly, the highlight would peak out. Her hair was half up and half down, a thin green vine braided into the pieces held up. A delicate silver crown adorned her head, with swirls surrounding a sharply cut deep blue sapphire sitting in the middle. The jewel and swirls came down so that the sapphire sat squarely in the middle of her forehead. It was in no way over the top, the gem only being about the size of a quarter. She seemed to know what I was looking at and smiled again.

"It was a gift from my husband," she said softly, sitting down on the other side of the bed. I actually took the time to look at what I was laying on, and was not surprised since I already knew what the room actually looked like.

The bed was actually made of the root of a tree. The top was flat, providing a large space for at least three people to lie down comfortably. I was only laying on one small part. I was covered by a soft down comforter, which actually looked the same as it did in the real world. Or, what I thought was the real world. Edward's cot was a small wood…something…with a thin mattress on top. I couldn't see from where I was, and still couldn't manage to sit up, but it looked like the mattress was sitting on a frame of woven oak branches. He sighed and rolled over, his arms draped over each side of the bed and his face almost completely hidden by the pillow. He didn't snore, but it looked like he was sleeping too deeply for his body to even think about it.

"Arcadia really catches your attention, doesn't it sweetheart?" Esme asked, bringing my attention back to her and my blush to my cheeks. This made her laugh softly.

"Yeah," I answered, my voice raspy from lack of use. Her smile widened more.

"And it sounds like you've made quite a bit of progress, haven't you?" I gave her a small smile in return.

"Yeah," I said again, flexing my hands. "Edward didn't tell you?" Both of them shook their heads.

"He was so exhausted, he crashed on the cot as soon as we set it down," Alice chirped in. I looked down at him sadly when I realized something.

"I never answered his question yesterday…" I said, thinking out loud.

"What did he ask you, dear?" Esme asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"He asked me if I could see Arcadia whenever I wanted, or if it just happened randomly. I couldn't really talk yet, and we got sidetracked once I started being able to make noise." I smiled, embarrassed. "I called him an ass because he laughed at me when I squeaked." Both of the women broke out in laughter and I just shook my head.

"I'm glad you two think it's so funny," Edward's voice mumbled from in the pillow. I tried to lift my head and succeeded, looking over to see him looking up at me with his eye that wasn't covered. I smiled down at him innocently and he shook his head, lifting it and letting his head fall face first into the pillow. I heard him sigh loudly and tried not to laugh. He turned on his side and propped himself up on his elbow.

"So, what's your answer?" he asked as Alice sat herself down at the foot of the cot, her legs bent Indian-style.

"I can turn it on and off whenever I want, but sometimes when I space out, it happens," I answered, attempting to shrug. To my utter relief, my shoulders rose and fell, just like I wanted them to. He nodded, his eyes wandering to the floor as his mind processed what I said.

"Can I…Can I asked a question?" I said, hesitating. I looked at each one of them and they nodded, encouraging me.

"This is going to sound funny, but…_what are you_?" I asked, emphasizing the last three words. All of them looked at me confused. "Your cores are all red, like a vampire's, but the gold is confusing me. It's actually the same color as your eyes," I explained, just realizing what the swirl reminded me of. Understanding reached each one of them and they all looked at each other to see who would explain.

"We are a different kind of vampire, my dear," a male voice said from behind everyone. A blonde man, the one from the first time I had woken up, stepped forward and checked something over my head. I heard something click off, and that's when I noticed the absence of the heart monitor. I guess I had actually managed to get used to the annoying beeping.

"It is also a loaded question, so I suggest we start with smaller ones first. How are you feeling?" the man-Carlisle, I suddenly remembered-asked. I shrugged.

"Much better than yesterday," I responded. He nodded. "I can move my shoulders, raise my head and close my hands, but I haven't tried anything else." He nodded again.

"Try to move your toes," he said. I did, and they wiggled. "Now your feet." They did. "Bend your knees." I did. He nodded after each movement, looking increasingly satisfied.

"What about your forearms?" he asked, looking a little apprehensive. He didn't seem to want to expect too much, but couldn't help it after I was able to do everything else he asked of me. I didn't blame him.

I tried anyway, and my forearm rose and fell smoothly. I went one step further and raised my whole arm, joy flooding me as I watched my body finally cooperate with me. I looked around to see everyone beaming happily at me, even though Carlisle seemed to be trying to keep a professional look about him. Edward sat up and took my hand, squeezing it once happily.

"Can you sit up?" he asked. I shrugged and tried, my hand squeezing his as I tightened my muscles. I felt the pressure of the pillow on my back slowly lessen, and Edward let me use his arm to finish sitting up. He helped me move back so I wouldn't fall and pulled the blanket up so it covered my lap. I patted the bed next to me when Edward just stood there and he gingerly sat down, like he thought he was going to hurt me if he sat down too fast.

"Hey, short stuff!" a voice boomed as a monster of a person came towards us. He towered over everyone else in the room, and his shoulders were twice as wide as I was. Emmett, I remembered his name was, smiled at me.

"You're finally awake and functional!" he said loudly, throwing his hands into the air. His voice scared me, but he had the face of a child and mischief hiding in his eyes. I could tell just by looking at him that he had the heart of a child. My vision switched on me, making me flinch in surprise. What I saw when I looked at him, though, made me gasp.

It was a different kind of vision than my two usual ones. I looked around at the others, and they looked the same way. I looked back at Emmett, or the human form that had been Emmett, and stared, amazed, as an inner shadow within his core glow constantly changed from animal form to animal form, each being different from the last with a human in between. When I looked at Alice, there was a small figure that flitted back and forth within her core, a little human-like shape with small, gossamer wings. Esme and Carlisle had the same forms within theirs, different plants and nature scenes slowly forming and fading into the next.

Edward's was different from the others, though. I turned to him, and the shadow that was his body in my other visions tilted its head to the side. It was kind of like I was seeing him through a smoke screen. I could make out where he was and what he was doing, but all of his features were invisible to me except for his core. A human shape sat there, his legs pulled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around them. His head was bowed, as if he were looking at his knees, but none of that was what caught my attention. What amazed me the most were the pure white shapes coming around him from his shoulders and meeting in front of him. The feathers, even in this form, seemed to glisten with purity as they formed a shield around his body, a light breeze rustling them.

When I finally realized what I was looking at, something else hit me as well. What I was seeing was what made each of them who they were. These moving forms of light were what they were, and I knew if I had gone farther, gone and looked into the circle of glowing light that surrounded these forms, I would have found what that book had been talking about. I would have found their greatest strengths and weaknesses, what made them tick, what they liked and what they didn't. It would have been like looking through their every thought, like living inside of them so that I knew everything they knew about themselves, and even what they didn't.

But I stayed out. I couldn't get myself to invade a person's innermost self like that. It felt like the most heinous form of rape anyone could have ever performed. To violate someone like that, especially without them knowing or consenting, was something I couldn't even fathom. Just seeing what I did made me feel like I had gone too far. I already felt like I had violated their privacy in a level just below actually entering their inner selves.

"Bella?" Edward's voice said, breaking me out of my new vision and my thoughts. His hands were on my shoulders and his grip was tight. I blinked a few times until everything looked normal again, and focused on his face. I saw in his eyes that he could tell something had just happened, but he couldn't think of what. There was immense frustration there, bordering on anger, and it scared me a little. "Bella, what just happened?" He sounded frantic, so I attempted to answer him, his grip making me wince. He looked at me apologetically and loosened his hands, letting them fall until he was holding me by my biceps.

"I…I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't…It wasn't on purpose! I didn't mean it! It just happened!" My eyes were popping out of my head in fear, making his brows furrow as he tried to understand.

"Bella, what are you talking about? What happened?" Edward said, trying to soften his voice. His grip unconsciously tightened on my arms, making me shake my head and cover my face with my hands as tears started falling down my cheeks. Edward just sounded even more panicked at the sight, making my tears fall faster.

"Bella, tell me what happened. What's the matter?" he asked, moving his hands to cup my cheeks, his thumbs trying in vain to stop the flow of salty water. I kept shaking my head, apologizing over and over again. I was surprised they weren't more angry with me. Edward just seemed to want to know what I had found. I didn't want him to be mad at me. Nothing felt right when Edward wasn't happy. I lowered my hands enough so that I could see him, and the ever-growing frustration in his eyes made me cover my own again.

"I'm sorry, Edward. I'm sorry I made you mad. Please don't be mad!" I exclaimed, pleading with him. I heard him inhale quickly and confusion flitted through me. I hesitantly, lowered my hands again to see the same confusion covering his face and spilling from his eyes. He didn't seem to know what to say, but he finally found the words.

"Bella, why…why would I be mad at you? You didn't do anything," he said softly. I shook my head and continued apologizing. "Bella," Edward said, moving his hands to my wrists, "what do you think I'm mad about? I'm not mad, and I won't get mad if you tell me." I continued to shake my head. He slowly and gently pried my hands away from my face and I flinched, turning my face away. I closed my eyes, expecting him to yell, but he didn't.

"Bella, please," he whispered, "what happened to make you think this?" I looked at him from the corner of my eye to see genuine confusion and worry on his face. I didn't realize I was shaking until he started rubbing his hands slowly up and down my arms, trying to soothe me. My fear slowly abated, my shaking with it, and I turned my face back to Edward's.

"I-I just-I saw," I said, not able to get it out. Edward kept rubbing my arms.

"Shhh, Bella. Calm down and tell me," he whispered, talking gently. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"I…went inside," I finally said, knowing exactly when I said it that it wasn't enough. They would still have no idea what I was talking about, and I could feel a fear of their anger starting to rise again. Edward didn't say anything, confusion looking at me through his eyes until understanding kicked it out and gave it to me.

"Bella, you just got a new sight, didn't you? Is that what happened?" Edward said, surprising me. I nodded frantically, hoping he would be more understanding of the slip-up.

"Can you tell me what you were able to see?" he asked gently, his hands pausing on my arms.

"Your inner self. What you truly are. What you can never hide from, no matter what you say or do. No matter what anyone else thinks. No matter what happens," I rambled, my eyes unfocused. Edward put his hands on either side of my face, bringing me back to him.

"Bella, you were able to see that? You were able to see inside our cores?" he asked, sounding astounded. There was no anger, distilling my fear and freeing me to speak.

"Esme and Carlisle are elves. Alice is a pixie. Emmett is a shape-shifter." I had been looking at each one of them in turn, and then found myself looking at Edward again. My pause seemed to bother him and I turned my head to the side slightly, my eyes unfocused again as I relived looking at the beautiful form that lived inside him.

"You, Edward…you are an angel." His eyes widened for a moment before softening with something along the lines of sadness or remorse.

"That can't be right, Bella. I haven't had my wings in…" his eyes drifted as he tried to remember, but quickly came back to me. "Well, since the end of the Wars. I don't really qualify anymore." I shook my head slowly, my vision still blurred except for the glowing image of an angel, the same one from inside Edward.

"Didn't you hear me, Edward?" I said softly. I heard my own voice and was shocked at the airiness of it. It sounded like I was in a trance or something, but I kept going. "No matter what happened or what you believe, this is something you will always be. There is no escaping. There is no changing. You were, are, and will continue to be an angel, even if there is nothing to show it." I felt his hands start shaking against my cheeks and covered his hands with my own, trying to provide some of the comfort he had given me back to him.

"I have only talked to you for three days, Edward, and you have already managed to save my life once. Can you really say that you are just a human turned vampire?" I asked him. His hands started shaking harder and I reached forward, letting the vision of his inner form fade to show me the tangible Edward, the Edward who was seconds away from a meltdown.

I put my hands on his shoulders as his own dropped from my face. I gently pulled him towards me and he let me, his face burying itself in my shoulder. I heard the others leaving, but paid no attention. I only had attention for the crying angel needing my support. So I held him, slowly and comfortingly running my fingers through his hair. He clung to me like the last thread of his lifeline, and fell asleep that way. And so did I.

**A/N: OH MY GOD A SLEEPING VAMPIRE! I know, everybody, and more about this will be explained in the next chapter or two, so bear with me. I won't give anything away early, but I also start my second semester of college on Tuesday, so I don't know if I'll be able to still update once a week. I promise I will try, but there are no guarantees.**

**Hope you're still enjoying!**

_**Angels of Twilight**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: An Angel's Tale**

_The past might be over, but it's never gone forever._

I woke up the next day to an empty bed. I hadn't even felt him get up. I stretched as far as my body would allow, relishing in the complete range of movement I discovered I had. My shoulders popped and my back cracked as I slowly twisted myself before collapsing against the bed again. I threw my legs over the side of the bed after a few moments, switching my vision so that the room was the one made of trees instead of sheetrock. I looked down at the floor and gasped, completely shocked.

What I had assumed was solid ground covered by grass was actually the leaves of the surrounding trees. I wasn't on the ground at all. I looked back at the tree making up the bed to see that what I thought was a root was actually a large branch. Thousands of smaller branches threaded together to make the floor, the leaves acting as a carpet. It was surprisingly soft. Little niches in the trunks acted as shelves, and a few branches shooting out horizontally had been used to make a dresser.

I stood up slowly, my knees giving out a few times before I was able to stand up straight. I took a few shaky steps towards the dresser and only had to catch myself once so I didn't kiss the floor. I was still in the same clothes from the day…from when I passed out, so I was curious to see if there was anything that would fit me in there. I grabbed the knobs of the top drawer and pulled, finding all sorts of shirts. I grabbed a random t-shirt and pushed the drawer back in, pulling the next one out afterwards. It was full of jeans, but I found a few pairs of sweats. I grabbed a dark blue pair to match the tee and changed quickly, not seeing any bathroom-like space. I left my clothes in a pile, not knowing what to do with them, and stuck my head out the "doorway."

I was at the end of a hallway with three other rooms branching off. At the end of the hall was what looked to be a staircase, but I couldn't be sure from where I was. I stepped out into the hall and slowly walked towards the drop in the floor, smiling to myself when I saw the branches leading down to another floor, this one actually made of grass. I stepped onto the first step lightly, waiting for the branch to move even a little with my weight, but nothing happened. I continued down the stairs and marveled at the railing, two more branches seeming to defy nature by growing down, perfectly parallel to the branches making up the steps. What I guessed to be the front door stood at the bottom of the stairs, with a living room to my right. I walked down the hallway, passing a bathroom, a dining room, and entered the kitchen, following the sounds of light conversation.

"Good morning, Bella," Esme said as I walked in, surprise trying to hide itself on her face as they all turned to me. I smiled and stood in the doorway, not sure if I was interrupting anything, but went and sat with them when Alice and Emmett gestured to me.

"How are you feeling today, Bella? I can imagine quite well, seeing where you are," he said gesturing around the room. I smiled again and felt a light blush start creeping up on me.

"I was able to move everything this morning, so I hope you don't mind that I helped myself to someone's clothes," I said, my blush automatically getting darker.

"It's not a problem, dear. I'm sure Edward won't mind," Esme said. The way she said that got my attention and I looked around the room. Edward was nowhere in sight.

"He went for a walk this morning," Rosalie said, somewhat nicer than I expected. She noticed the surprise on my face and rolled her eyes, turning her face away from me. I looked at everyone else for more information, but no one said anything.

"How long has it been?" I asked quietly, unsure I wanted to know.

"A week," Carlisle said gently, smiling sadly when I looked at him, completely shocked. A whole week. My life had been absolutely perfect only a week ago. It amazed me how much something could change in such a short amount of time. I looked around again, confused about Edward's absence. He hadn't left me since they took me from my house.

"He walked right outside and kept going. He didn't even seem to notice we were here," Esme said, smiling sadly. I stood up to go towards the door, deciding to go look for him, and Esme stopped me with a hand on my arm. She handed me two granola bars and smiled sadly at me again.

"He didn't eat. He's been gone for a while, though, so he should be hungry." I nodded and walked towards the door again, only taking two steps before turning towards her again.

"How come…" I started, not knowing how to ask what I wanted to without sounding rude. Esme saved me the trouble. She knew what I wanted to ask.

"Edward is a very troubled being, dear. What you told him yesterday turned everything he thought he knew into lies. He is trying to deal with that, and we think only one of us can truly convince him of the truth of your words," she explained. I waited for her to continue, but she didn't. It only took a second more for my eyes to widen as understanding hit me. I nodded to her and turned towards the door again, determined not to stop until I found him.

I headed for what looked to be a trail heading away from the-well, the house, I guess-and walked. I had absolutely no idea where I was going, but I did what I would do and just kept walking. I walked for what felt like an hour before I was met by a clearing. The entrance, like the doors in the house, was a space in between two closely growing trees. I walked through, gasping silently at the field of different-colored wildflowers coating the ground. Vines of morning glories climbed the trees lining the field, and the flowers were just opening as I walked in. The slumped figure sitting in the middle of the field facing away from me is what made me sigh in relief.

"Edward," I sighed, slowly walking over behind him. He didn't turn around, making me immediately worry. I kneeled down behind him and lightly put a hand on his shoulder. He patted the ground next to him and I sat, our knees just barely touching. He inhaled and exhaled slowly and I leaned forward so I could look him in the face. His eyes were glassy and unfocused as something in his mind took him away from the present. I turned myself so I was facing him, but was still at his side.

"Edward," I said softly, trying to draw his mind back to the clearing instead of wherever it was. He blinked slowly before turning to me, his eyes slowly focusing on my face. He blinked once more before seeming to realize who I was.

"Bella," he said, his voice hoarse. He closed his eyes and took a shaky breath.

"Edward, what's wrong?" I asked gently. "Your family is worried about you, and so am I." And I really was, seeing him like that. It scared me to see him trying to keep himself from falling apart.

"I…" he started, but stopped and shook his head. "It's going to sound stupid, but…what you said yesterday…I just…I can't believe it. I want to. I want to so bad, but I can't. It can't be true," he rambled. I put a hand on his knee and he stopped, looking at me again. His eyes were unfocused again, like he was looking at me, but not seeing.

"Why, Edward? What is keeping you from believing me?" I asked, trying to direct his ramblings just a little.

"I couldn't save her. I was supposed to protect her and I didn't. She died, but I lived. It shouldn't have been like that. I was her guardian and I failed. I failed her, and she died. She had to pay because I wasn't good enough," he continued. I was able to piece together the basics of his story, but he wasn't giving me much to work with.

"Edward, how did she die?" I asked. He shook his head, his face contorting in anguish as his mind replayed the events in his mind.

"There was so much. Everything was so red. I tried to save her. I wasn't supposed to interfere, but I tried to save her. She still died. Those monsters got to her. They drained her body and just left her there. I was so mad, I tried to kill them. But one of them got me. It hurt so much. They killed her and took my life away from me. There's no way for me to be what I was again. Not now. Not after what happened. Carlisle and Esme protect people, and they're not even guardian angels. I couldn't do it, but they do it all the time. They saved me, but I'm not the one who should need to be saved. I should be watching over people, making sure they live their lives. I can't even do that now. I'm a freaking vampire. I'm the same as the monsters that killed her." I moved so that I was kneeling in front of him and put my hands on either side of his face. I lifted it so that he was looking at me, but he still wasn't in the present.

"Edward, look at me," I said. His eyes were facing me, but he wasn't seeing.

"Edward," I said again, a little more forceful, and shook him slightly. He blinked, but he was still in the past. I shook him a little harder and called his name again, brushing my thumbs over his cheeks. He blinked again, but he was still gone.

"Edward, please look at me. Come back to me, Edward. All of that is over. You're not a monster and you didn't fail her. Just come back to me so we can talk, Edward. Please," I said, shaking him even more.

A single tear fell from his lashes as he replayed the events that were keeping him away from me. I ran one of my hands through his hair and kept talking to him, trying to get him back, but nothing seemed to register. More tears started falling and his body shook in grief, making me wrap my arms around him. He hid his face in my shoulder, his arms resting limply in his lap. I rested my head against his and tried to calm him still, hoping he would hear me.

"Edward, shhh. I need you to come back to me, Edward. It's all over. They're not here. No one is hurting, no one is dying. It's just us. I need you here with me, Edward," I rambled as he continued to cry silently. His body jerked when I told him I needed him, but I didn't think anything of it.

Listening to everything Edward told me brought back the fact that my old life was gone, too. I could never leave the sanctuary. I could never see my old friends. I could never go back to my old house…

I would never see my dad again.

However long I had been there already, that was one thought that my mind refused to process. Only while I was still unconscious had I thought about it, but not after. Charlie, my dad, was dead. I would never be able to talk to him. I would have to live my life knowing my father died for me. He had loved me so much that he sacrificed his own life to help save mine. Everything that happened to me from that moment on…I wouldn't have him there to help me anymore. He had never been very touchy-feely when it came to emotions, but he let me talk and he said just enough so that I knew he cared. I knew he was trying his best. I wouldn't have that anymore. I wouldn't have anything anymore. No dad there to scare the big, bad monsters away. No dad to intimidate boyfriends. No dad to blush as he tried to give me "the talk." Nothing. With my mother dead and no other family, I was utterly and completely alone in the world.

I hadn't realized, but Edward's hand was rubbing my back, comforting me like I had just been comforting him. Now it was me crying and shaking with him trying to calm me. He had sat me down in his lap with my head resting against his shoulder. My hands were fisted around his shirt and my knees were as close to my chest as I could get them in my current position. His head was leaning on top of mine and his breath rustled my hair slightly as he whispered to me.

"Shhh, Bella. I'm here now. It's okay. I'm sorry. I'm here," he kept repeating. The irony of the situation was almost laughable, and trying to keep my laughter down dried my tears. I swiped at my face, but I stayed where I was, the beating of Edward's heart in my ear and his hand on my back calming me. He leaned down and looked at me, a small frown on his lips.

"What's the matter, Bella?" he asked me. I shook my head.

"It just hit me when you talked about your life changing that mine had too. With everything that's been happening, it never really hit me that Charlie is gone." Another tear fell down my cheek and Edward nodded his understanding.

"The events of that day…they've haunted me all these years. I never allowed myself to get close to anyone outside my family because I didn't believe I could protect them. You are actually the first non-family member I've had an actual conversation with since then." He looked at me with wonder in his eyes, like he himself couldn't believe the change in his actions.

"Why me?" I asked, my brow furrowed. I still had my head leaning against him, so I knew exactly when his heartbeat picked up. He shook his head slowly.

"I don't know," he said, almost too quickly. He didn't know it, but his heartbeat had already given him away. I tapped his chest with one finger and smiled slyly.

"That's not what in here says," I said. "But if you don't want to tell me, that's fine. It's none of my business, even though I'm part of it." I looked away with a sigh, glancing at him from the corner of my eye to see him smiling knowingly.

"She looked exactly like you," he said, drawing my gaze back to his. "She had the same eyes, same hair, same pale skin, same small stature. If she hadn't…If she was living right now, you would be her identical twin." I looked at him in shock, and he turned away with a smile on his face. He was staring off into the trees as he started his story.

"She wasn't my first assignment. I had already had quite a few, and all of them had living to ripe old ages. I made sure each one died peacefully in their sleep. There was nothing remarkable about any of them. They were just average creatures going about their lives with no knowledge of the being always right there with them. It was forbidden for us to show ourselves," he added, seemingly as an afterthought.

"It was just after the Wars that everything went wrong. She lived during the Medieval Era in Europe, but she was very unhappy with the way she lived. There were no women's rights or anything like that. She was supposed to grow up, get married, and have all the children her husband wanted. She really wanted to venture out, to explore new places and see how others lived. She was incredibly open-minded for her time, like she was born in the wrong century. She was a seer, and a powerful one at that, so everyone in her town knew who she was. She couldn't walk down the street without someone trying to shake her hand or touch her shirt. She was probably the most important woman of her time because of that, even though human history knows nothing about her." He paused and looked at me, but his face held too many emotions. He shook his head and looked back towards the trees.

"That day, she decided to go for a walk. The town was surrounded on all sides by a forest, so she didn't think she'd be in any danger from roadside bandits or muggers. She had her guard completely down the whole time, losing herself in the sights and sounds she passed. The only sounds she missed were the approaching vampires." He closed his eyes tightly for a moment and I put my hand against his cheek. He leaned into it, putting his own hand over mine, and sighed. He kept his eyes shut as he continued.

"Three of them attacked her at once. She had no warning, and no time to defend herself. I was right there, watching them play with her like a new toy. They didn't bite her right away, but they tortured her. They broke, pulled, ripped…anything you could imagine was done to her that day. I just stood there like a spectator, helping her not even crossing my mind until right before they decided they were done playing. She looked right at me, like she knew I was there. She looked right into my eyes…and I showed myself. The broken soul I saw in her eyes fueled me as I tried to save her, but there were too many of them. Two came after me, and the third pierced her throat and slashed it open. Her screams distracted me just long enough for the same to happen to me, except my blood burned them. Their own cries joined ours and we fell to the ground, her and I. Our heads were right next to each other and she looked at me again, pain filling her as the light dimmed in her gaze. I told her…I told her I was sorry I couldn't save her. She just smiled at me and sighed. She died right there, right next to me." Tears were falling down his face now, and I quickly realized I was crying too. I could sense Edward's pain, his desperation, his anger…and even his feelings towards this girl. The way he spoke about her, there was no doubt that he had some kind of feeling for her, and it was more than just wanting to keep her safe. It felt like he…_loved_ her…He continued on, pulling me out of my musings. I wiped the tears from his face, but more quickly replaced them.

"That venom took the only chance I had at paying for her death. I've had to live with the guilt of that day for more than seven hundred years, knowing I'm the one who should have died. I should have died, she should have lived, and I should have taken those three monsters with me. But now, I'm just like them. I'm no better than them." And with that, he stopped, the finality in his tone telling me the story was over. He hung his head and turned away from me, his arms dropping away like he expected me to jump up and run away from him. I put my hand on the side of his face again and gently coaxed his head around until he was facing me.

" Edward," I said, but he didn't respond or open his eyes. I put my other hand on his face as well, cupping it between them.

"Edward, look at me." It took him a few seconds, but he did. His eyes were rimmed in red and self loathing blared out from him.

"Edward, you can't beat yourself up like this over something that was out of your control. You did what you could to protect her, and that's all that matters. There are too many should haves and ifs for you to think about, and you shouldn't. There's nothing you can do for her now except live the life that's been given to you. Don't you think she would want you to live and not wallow in guilt and self-loathing? You just told me she _smiled_ right before she died. What do you think that meant? That she was happy that you were sorry? Or that she forgave you?" I paused and looked at him, immediately seeing which one he was choosing and shook my head.

"From everything you told me, I can tell she would have understood. She accepted what happened to her and knew you did your best to stop it, even if she may not have completely known who you were. She would have wanted you to move on _ages_ ago, and yet here you are, still beating yourself up over her death and refusing to live the life that was given to you. You are wasting what she lost, don't you realize that?" That seemed to hit home as his body tensed.

"The past stays in the past for a reason, Edward. It's because there is nothing we can do about it now except learn from what went wrong and celebrate what went right. Yes, I'm sorry Charlie died trying to save me. Yes, I hate myself for letting him leave even though I had a feeling something bad was going to happen. But I'm not going to spend the rest of my life concerned with the 'what if's'. No matter how many different ways things _could have_ ended, they didn't. I can't go back and change them, so I have to accept what happened and move on. It is exactly what I plan to do. I know it won't be easy at first, but it is what I have to do to make sure his death wasn't in vain. Charlie did the same when my mother died. Your past isn't a roadblock to the future unless you put it there, and only you can take it away. I've made my choice, Edward. Now it's time you do."

He sat there staring at me for a while, and I thought I could actually see the thoughts churning in his head. I let my hands fall from his face and put them in my lap, resting my head against him again. All of these emotional battles had mentally drained me, and I almost groaned when I remembered the long walk back to the house. I glanced a look at Edward to see him staring down at me, his eyes unusually bright and light-hearted.

"You are wise beyond your years, Isabella Swan. And you are right. She would not want me wasting what was taken from her." He took one of my hands in his, looking down at the contact like it was something completely foreign to him.

"You know, I didn't think twice about deciding to protect you. All of those nights I held your hand, watching over you while you were healing, it was like I was a guardian again. I felt like I had before everything happened. One thing has come as a surprise to me, though," he said, his brows furrowing in his confusion.

"And what's that?" I asked, feeling my exhaustion wash away as Edward seemed to fill with the life that had been missing from him before my eyes. He smiled down at me.

"I never thought I'd be the one needing life and death explained to me by someone just shy of two decades old." I smiled and he chuckled. "It's almost like I have my own guardian now, shoving me in the right direction." I smiled and shook my head.

"I'm far from an angel, Edward. Maybe your second chance might be a better term," I said jokingly. The look on his face was completely serious as he looked at me, and I could see something hiding in his eyes.

"Yes," he said, almost like he was thinking out loud, "maybe you are."

**A/N: Well, I hope this was interesting enough for you. Hopefully some of the things that may have gotten confusing were cleared up, but if not, review or pm me and I'll see if I can clear things up without giving anything away. I'm not very good at fluff, so just beware that this story might move a little faster than others. Also, if you have any ideas for the story, feel free to tell me!**

**Please vote on my new poll! It is yet another new story idea, but nothing will happen with it or the others until I finally get around to rewriting Infectious. That was actually supposed to be the story that went up after Finding Courage was over, but somehow that didn't happen…**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**

_**Angels of Twilight**_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: Taking a Walk**

_The wonders of nature sometimes outweigh the wonders of_

_technology if a person takes the time to see them._

Edward didn't mention his breakdown for the next few days, but he passed me pleading looks any time we were in the same room. The only thing I could think of was that he didn't want me telling the others about what happened, but I couldn't find a reason why. He didn't give me much of a chance to confront him, since someone else always seemed to walk in just as we were alone.

I finally cornered him the next day. He was lying on his back on the couch in his room, staring at the ceiling. He didn't seem to actually be looking at the ceiling, though. Whatever he was thinking about kept him from hearing me walk in and he jumped when I laid a hand on his shoulder. He sighed and closed his eyes, letting his head fall onto the arm of the couch again. I sat down on the floor next to him and he looked down at me. I looked back at him and said nothing, letting him decide what he was going to say. I could see in his eyes that he was thinking about something, but I didn't ask. I saw him make his decision and he sighed again.

"I don't know what to do," he whispered, his voice defeated. I scrunched my eyebrows together and tilted my head to the side.

"About what?" I asked, just as quietly. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment before opening them again.

"You," he said. That confused me more.

"Me?" I asked gently. "What about me?" He looked at me, his eyes filling more and more with pain as I looked at him.

"I don't know how to protect you, Bella." He squeezed his eyes shut again and turned away so that he was facing the ceiling again. I got on my knees and placed a hand on his shoulder again. He didn't look at me, so I used my other hand to turn his head towards me. I left it there when he started turning his head back again.

"Edward," I said gently. He didn't open his eyes. I said it again, a little louder.

"Edward, look at me." It took a few seconds, but he finally opened his eyes. The spark that usually lit his eyes was gone. He looked so defeated, I almost forgot to speak.

"I do not want you to rip yourself up over this. I want you to stop looking at me like I am that other girl. I'm not, and you need to realize this. That happened already, and there is nothing you can do about it now. Let it go and move on. I know you think I am your second chance. I'm the one who said that, but I didn't mean it this way. I meant I was your second chance to be a guardian, not your second chance to try to see how you could have saved her. Do you understand what I'm saying?" I asked, feeling like I was rambling on and on and losing my meaning. He nodded once, but nothing changed in those eyes. He still looked at me like nothing could help him.

"Edward, I don't think you realize this, but I feel safe here. With you and all of the others, I don't feel like I should be afraid. I know whatever that thing is out there can't get me here, and that if it somehow does, all of you will try to protect me. I know this, and I feel safer for it. This place makes me feel safe," I said, switching my vision and gesturing to the trees surrounding us. I looked back at him, his glow so small and dim with his depression that I moved my hand from his shoulder over to it, like I had to protect it.

"You make me feel safe, Edward. I know how much you want to keep me safe, and I feel safer for it. Isn't that enough?" I pleaded with him, desperation passing from my eyes to his dead ones. He didn't answer right away, but something changed in him as he thought about what I said. His eyes slowly gained their shine back, coming alive once again before my eyes. Defeat and sadness were replaced with comfort and understanding, his small smile reflecting those same emotions. I kept staring at him, waiting for him to speak. When he did, my heart soared.

"Yeah, I think it is, Bella. As long as you feel safe, nothing else should matter," he said gently, sitting up on the couch. I let my hands fall onto my lap and a small, relieved smile touched my lips. He offered a hand to me and I took it, letting him help me up. I sat on the couch next to him and he hugged me with one arm.

"Thank you, Bella," he said randomly. I raised an eyebrow at him in confusion.

"For what?" I asked and he smiled again.

"I have no idea." His smile grew and he shook his head. I laughed and rolled my eyes.

"Yes, you do, but if you don't feel like telling me then fine," I said, trying to sound slightly hurt while crossing my arms over my chest. He saw right through it, though, and squeezed my shoulders again.

"Nice try. I know you're kidding." I stayed like that for a few more seconds before letting my arms fall to my lap and sighing in defeat.

"Yeah, you're right. But you really don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I won't mind," I said, smiling gently and looking at him. He tilted his head to the side, thinking, but didn't respond.

"For being there," he finally said. Then it was my turn to tilt my head, but for me it was in confusion.

"For trying to help," he continued.

"For listening," he finished, his voice much lower than it had been. I knew what he meant and smiled in understanding.

"Edward, it's fine. I should really be the one thanking you. You stayed with me the whole time I was healing. You saved me back at my house. Now, you are willing to rip yourself to pieces to try to keep me safe. I really do appreciate everything you've done for me, Edward," I said. He smiled at me and nodded, pulling me into his side again. This time I stayed there even when he loosened his grip, leaning against him and resting my head against his chest. We stayed like that for a few moments before something popped into my mind. I couldn't believe I had yet to ask this, and looked up at Edward, leaning back slightly so I could see him.

"Can I ask you something?" I whispered.

"I think you just did, but I think I'll let you ask another," he said with a half smile, seeming to feel my mood and making an attempt to lighten it. I gave him a small smile for the effort, but it faded soon after.

"Edward…how long…how long was I…" I stuttered, unable to say it. He knew what I wanted to ask, though.

"Four full days before you woke up the first time. Two days later you woke up again. You got up by yourself another three days after that. You were declared missing the first time you woke up. His case was closed as unsolved the second time. His funeral was the third time you woke," he finished, squeezing me again as my body started to tremble by itself.

"Nine days. I missed out on nine days of my life because of it. I missed my father's funeral because of it. Everyone probably thinks I'm dead now. My life is gone." I looked at Edward, his face reflecting my pain.

"Edward, what am I supposed to do?" I pleaded, tears raging down my face. I buried my face into his shirt and he put his hand on the back of my neck, leaning his head against the top of my own. He gently rocked me soothingly.

"It's okay, Bella. As far as everyone knows, you are being held somewhere until...the case is closed. They still think you're alive, they just don't know where you are or with who. What I don't know is what is going to happen while that…puppet still around. We'll have to talk to Carlisle about what is best. I don't want to keep you holed up here, but I'm not going to put you in danger just to get you out," he rambled, almost like he was talking to himself.

"Edward, where's he now?" I asked, leaning back slightly so I could look at him. He blinked and looked at me, bringing himself out of his thoughts.

"At work, but," he glanced at the clock, "he should be home within the hour." I nodded.

"So what now?" I asked, tilting my head to the side.

"Well," he started, thinking to himself, "if you want, we could see if Rose or Esme have any clothes that fit you for when you get sick of wearing mine. Alice's would be a little too short for you." I kinked an eyebrow.

"What if I like wearing them?" I asked. He smiled.

"Then go ahead. I thought you'd be more comfortable in something that fit you a little better," he said, turning away with that smile still on his face. I smiled and shook my head.

"What about taking a little tour?" he asked.

"Of Arcadia or Earth?"

"Whichever you want, even though I think you've seen most of Terra Firma by now." I nodded once in acknowledgement.

"Okay, then. Arcadia it is." I stood up and a brief second of disappointment flashed over Edward's face. I offered my hand to him and smiled to myself when he instantly lit up again, quickly hiding his delight. He led me down the "stairs" and out of the section of forest that made up the house. I turned around to look at the front of the space, imagining as I turned to see a group of trees on each side of a small opening. That wasn't what I saw.

Instead, I saw the trunk of an oak tree, probably as old as the forest itself. Unlike the tree in Edward's room, this was one tree that had a split trunk right at the ground. The two halves rejoined about eight feet above the ground and every other tree had at least half of its branches reaching towards it, those branches twining together as they attempted to caress the mother (or father) of all trees. These branches effectively made a wall around the rooms of this house. I stared for a few more minutes before Edward gave my hand a gentle tug.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" he asked me. I nodded silently. "Esme and Carlisle found it when they moved to Forks. The space inside actually widened as they lived here, kind of like the forest knew it would be needed as a haven."

"Wow," I said, sounding _oh_ so articulate. Edward chuckled.

"Yeah, wow. When they told me, I didn't believe them at first. Once the third floor formed and the first two grew about ten more rooms between the two, I couldn't deny it anymore. I still don't know what to think about it now. Those rooms have stayed empty for so long, I'm kind of thinking it is preparing itself for something. Like we're getting a warning that they'll be needed," he said. His explanation made sense, as much as things in Arcadia possibly could. I was still staring at the solid-looking walls of the house, the mix of branches and leaves making looking inside completely impossible.

"So…you think it's like…God or something?" I asked, turning to him. He frowned and tilted his head to the side.

"I truly do not know. What I do know is that this forest, as well as the rest of Arcadia, is just as alive as the creatures that live here. Whether it is Mother Nature or God, I couldn't even guess."

"So there is a God?" He looked off into the distance, at something or nothing, I couldn't tell.

"It depends on who you talk to, just like with religions. Some think he exists, others do not. Some think he is actually a she, and others think both or neither. Some think there is one, others think there are many." He kept staring off until I grabbed his arm with my free hand.

"What about you?" I asked, slightly hesitant. I didn't know how shaky that ground was. He didn't seem to mind though, giving me a small smile.

"I am slightly more…in the know than most other people," he said quietly. He looked around and jerked his head towards the forest. "Let's go this way."

I followed him, lifting my feet higher than usual so I wouldn't trip over anything. Edward kept looking back at me as we walked, and I would look up from the ground to see him turning back around quickly. We walked for another minute or two before we stepped into a small clearing dosed in sunlight. I looked up and the tops of the trees cleared to show a bright blue sky without a cloud in sight, my first look at the sky since my life broke apart. I looked back down and gasped at the carpet of wildflowers covering the forest floor. Different hues of pink, red, blue, yellow, orange, and purple coated the ground, and Edward let me stare for a few more minutes before gently pulling on my hand. We sat down in the middle, Edward across from me but not letting go of my hand. He gathered his thoughts for a few seconds before beginning.

"God is one being, but God is also every God and Goddess known to human-and inhuman-kind. Every God and Goddess is God. God exists, but he doesn't exist." He paused and I raised an eyebrow. He chuckled.

"Need a little elaboration?" I nodded.

"Well, put as simply as possible, which is the only way it can really be understood, every God and Goddess that exists in religion does indeed exist. Which ones humans want to believe in is what created so many different religions. Religion differs with opinion, but each higher being that is mentioned to rule over a certain part of Earth, or all of it, exists. There is only one true religion, and it is just to believe. What you believe is up to you. Humans just decided to give it a name and spread it to others. Arcadians know the truth about the Rulers-that is, the Gods and Goddesses. We have no specific religion besides to believe the Rulers exist. Some decide to worship one over the others, but it is their own choice," he finished. I nodded slowly.

"And that's what you believe?" I asked, tilting my head to the side. He nodded.

"With my former line of work, it is hard to deny it," he said solemnly. My eyes widened at that forgotten piece of information. He chuckled when he noticed and laid back on the flowers. I laid down next to him and he took my hand again, staring up at the sky. I just ended up staring at the smile on his face, something I hadn't seen in a while. He seemed to glow from happiness at that moment, and I smiled, knowing it was half his core and the other half…well, I assumed it was being there with me…

A girl can dream, can't she?

**A/N: Sorry about the wait…went away for the weekend, had writer's block, work, college…but I finished the chapter! It ended up more of a filler/fluff chapter than anything else, but I hope you like it anyway!**

_**~Angels of Twilight**_


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Complications**

_Complications are just problems that have yet to be solved._

Edward and I talked to Carlisle the next day about what we should do about school. He had come home looking exhausted, even for a vampire, so we decided it wouldn't hurt to wait another day. Esme told us later that a child patient had died under his care, but he wouldn't say anything else about it, not even to Esme. She promised she would try to get him to talk about it more, but that was last night. Edward and I assumed he still wasn't saying anything and agreed not to bring it up.

We walked into Carlisle's office, or what would be considered his office in the human realm, and I gasped. The floor and ceiling were just like every other room, intertwining branches and leaves making a stable surface strong enough for people to walk on. Carlisle's desk was a rather large bough, the side facing the ceiling as flat as it could possibly be without being natural. It rose through the floor and then disappeared back through it again, almost like it was meant for the purpose it was currently serving. Little shelves lined every wall except that which the doorway was in, little branches that had leaved themselves together and stuck out about a foot from the rest. Ancient tombs adorned these shelves, their leather spines still displaying a bright sheen. Some newer leisure readings were lined behind Carlisle, but he was ignoring them all at that moment. His hands were shielding his face from the world and it looked as if his elbows were all that was supporting him from laying his head on his desk. I walked over to his side quickly and knelt next to him.

"Carlisle? What's wrong?" I asked gently, putting a hand on his arm. I could feel Edward standing behind me, his worry tangible.

"Oh, nothing. Do not worry yourself with it, Isabella," Carlisle said, trying to sound light and cheery. As soon as he moved his hands from his face, I could tell something was really bothering him. I raised an eyebrow at him, and he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. I quickly realized that this was actually the first time I had seen Carlisle's form in this world, my worry over him completely overriding my thoughts.

His hair was still the pale blonde that it was before, but now he had many of the same features as Esme. His ears were slightly pointed and he was looking at me sadly with golden eyes. His skin was pale white and he had the same kind of crown Esme did, except his stone was an emerald. The swirls that made up the crown were also much less delicate than Esme's had been, being slightly thicker. He was wearing a soft green robe over a dress shirt and…well, they looked like slacks, but I wasn't sure what to call them. He had no shoes on, but he didn't seem to care.

"The child at the hospital…the one who died," Carlisle started, bringing me out of my observing, "she was like us. An Arcadian." I looked up at Edward and he looked down at me, mild understanding growing in his eyes.

"She was a prophetess…a seer of the future. She was getting visions that someone did not want her to share, and they attacked her. She was almost dead when they brought her in, but I was able to keep her alive long enough for her to tell me what she saw." He squeezed his eyes shut and I squeezed his arm gently, lending the small amount of support I could give him. His hands were in fists, and Edward moved behind him, placed a supportive hand on his shoulder, but not saying a word.

"She told me about you…about the power you will have…about the enemies you will make…about the danger, the trials, the victories, the failure…She told me your life story." He looked at me, his face regretful. He didn't have to say it; I knew what he meant.

"Carlisle, no one's life is easy. I don't expect mine to be any different," I said trying to soothe him. He gave me a small smile and shook his head.

"Your life will be much harder than that of a normal being, my dear. And this puppet is not going to go away anytime soon." He sighed softly, visibly hating what he was saying. "Someone wanted to know what was going to happen to you, and they were willing to kill to make sure no one else could find out. I can only imagine that, now that they know every bump and turn in your life, they will be there to change it. I only hope it is not to make it worse." I nodded once in agreement, letting my eyes drift as I processed what I had just been told.

"Carlisle," I started, something tugging at my drifting thoughts, "could you…tell me what my power will be?" I looked at him curiously, knowing I already had one power; to see into a person's soul. He looked at me sadly.

"Bella…you will be the most powerful being this world has ever known. It is why your life will be filled with such danger. It is probably why it already is. Someone knew…some sorcerer knew this before we did. It's why that puppet was sent after you." Carlisle paused and sighed.

"It is truly an astounding power, though. It would be an amazing gift if it were not for the burden it will cause." He looked up at me with a small, sad smile. "You will copy the powers of those around you and keep them for yourself. Essentially, you will have every power known in our world, if you come across them. It will only take a few seconds for it to happen, but once you have the power, it will be yours for the rest of your life."

"Wha-" I started, not sure what to think. I stood up slowly and leaned against Carlisle's desk.

"They…they're after me…for a power I don't even have yet?" I asked, appalled. Carlisle nodded.

"It seems like someone does not want you to obtain this power. What we do not know is why," Carlisle said, his eyes shutting once more. He let out another sigh as I sat on the edge of his desk. I looked up at Edward and he was staring at me from his spot behind Carlisle, his face serious as he contemplated everything. His eyes were unfocused, but there was growing agitation and worry in them.

"Bella, these powers are not limited to vampire abilities, you realize," Carlisle said, looking at me sternly. I looked at him, confused. "My and Esme's power to control plant life and our magic, Alice and Jasper's power to change her appearance, Emmett and Rosalie's ability to shape-shift…basically the abilities we carried over from our past life." He looked up at Edward, seemingly unsure of what I could get from him.

"I used to control matter and energy. Basically, the elements that make up earth were mine to use as I needed. What the Gods and Goddesses made, I used to control," Edward explained somewhat quietly, remorse evident in his tone.

"Why does it sound like you can't anymore?" I asked gently. He looked at me sadly, and I could see the answer in his eyes.

"I am no longer a Guardian Angel. Once I lost that, I lost my abilities, as well," he answered, his remorse evident once again. I sighed gently and shook my head.

"Then you still don't believe what I said?" I asked, still talking quietly. He shook his head in response.

"I want to. You don't understand how much I want to, Bella. I just…can't. It's been so long, I don't think I can." He looked away, but not before I saw his eyes start to glisten.

"It felt like I was everything. I had a bond with everything around me. That bond was ripped away when I was changed." He paused, bowing his head. "I feel so alone now," he whispered. "I know I'm not, but I can't shake the feeling that I'll never have that feeling of…of _connection_ ever again." A tear slipped down his face and fell to the floor. I stood up and took a few steps towards him, laying a hand on his shoulder

"I don't think your change is your problem, Edward." He looked at me with confusion. "I think it's you. Your emotions and disbelief are holding you back. If you would just believe it's possible that you _are_ still an angel, that you just have to connect with your powers again, maybe something would happen." I shrugged, trying to pass my hope along to him. I could see him thinking, his eyes unfocused again, but that was it. I looked back at Carlisle, who was looking at me strangely. I tilted my head to the side and raised an eyebrow. He smiled and shook his head.

"I never thought about his condition that way. I kept thinking what he was didn't mix well with the change. Angels and vampires are usually not associated together in a good way." I smiled and nodded once in understanding.

"So, what was it that the two of you wanted to talk to me about?" Carlisle asked hastily, trying to change the subject.

"I asked Edward what I was going to do about school," I said. "I know it's safer for me here, but I really don't want to stay in the house all the time, you know?" I said, shrugging. He chuckled and nodded.

"I have been asking around at work to see if anyone has seen anything strange lately, but no one has. I think the sorcerer's puppet has left the area for the time being, so hopefully you will be safe for now. If you want, you can start going back to school, but I think it would be best to have at least one of the others with you at all times. The humans tend to say there is safety in numbers, and I have to agree with them."

"So I can go back to school?" I asked, getting happier by the second. He shrugged and nodded once.

"Thank you, Carlisle," I said happily, trying to restrain my joy. I looked at Edward and he smiled back at me, but I could tell he was still preoccupied with what I had said before. I gently took his hand and looked at him, concern pouring from my eyes to his. He gave me a small smile and shook his head. My stomach growled abruptly, making his smile grow to his eyes. He jerked his head in the direction of the door and we walked out, looking back at Carlisle one last time.

I woke up that next day, Monday, for my first day back to school. Alice and Rosalie bounced on either side of my bed, effectively waking me. They screeched something about not having enough time to get ready and having to get my butt up right now, so I sat up to make them stop. I heard a chuckled from my doorway and stopped rubbing my eyes for a moment to see Edward peeking around the corner.

"You have no idea what you are in for, Bella," he said, and without any further explanation, disappeared around the corner.

I soon found out.

I was poked, prodded, plastered with make-up, blow dried, curled, and strangled by clothing for the next hour and a half. After both of them had deemed me ready, and congratulated themselves on their work with so little time, they brought me in front of a vanity with a large, almost full-length mirror. I guessed they had brought it in while I was in the shower, because it hadn't been there before.

The glass looked like crystal clear water frozen between two pieces of ice. The base of the vanity looked like it was made with different sized pieces of driftwood, smaller, hollowed out pieces fitting perfectly into the gaps of the larger ones like drawers. The mirror glistened and sparkled with the light, but my reflection wasn't distorted in any way. I reached my hand out to touch it, but thought different of possibly marring the perfection before me, letting my hand fall onto the smooth surface of the vanity instead.

When I actually looked at myself in the mirror, I was astounded at what they had done to me. I felt like I was looking at a complete stranger, a fashion model, not the average girl from a small town no one heard of until a certain book series came out. My brown hair was curled so that large ringlets fell down my back, my eyes complementing the color, as well as my clothes, with light brown eye shadow and black liner. I had been forced into a cream-colored turtleneck sweater with short sleeves and tight jeans. So far, I didn't have any shoes, but I was actually feeling scared of what was to come.

I didn't feel comfortable as I finally left the room, leaving the harpies to get themselves ready since they were done with me. I pulled at the hem of my shirt, mentally wishing I could just wear a T-shirt and be done with it, but I didn't want to upset them. They were only trying to be nice.

"Good morning, dear," Esme said as I entered the kitchen. I looked at the cherry wood countertop and tilted my head curiously. I only had a piece of fruit the night before, not bothering to search for anything else, since I had no idea what they had. Esme laughed and smiled at me, cooking something on what I took to be a stove.

"Just because we are not human does not mean their food doesn't exist in this world. It is just natural," she explained with a shrug. "We have markets with all-natural foods. All we have to do is cook it." She gestured to the stove and my curiosity grew even more when I glimpsed a small flame flicker under the pan she was holding.

"Esme, how exactly are you cooking with fire in something made of wood?" I asked slowly. She smiled at me again.

"Magic," she answered simply. "I enchanted the wood to be fire-resistant, just like I enchanted the hole in that trunk over there to emit cool air," she said, gesturing to a tree in the wall behind her. The kitchen was against the outside of the house, so one wall was all tree trunks. A large piece of bark was fitted into what looked like a large hole in the trunk. Sure enough, I could feel coldness when I put my hand against it.

"This is amazing," I exclaimed softly, looking all around the room.

"Thank you, dear," Esme said. "I've redecorated a few times over the years, growing a few trees here, moving some over there…" she continued, sounding very proud of herself. "It sounds like you will be able to do that some day." I looked at her and she tilted her head to the side. I nodded once and shrugged.

"That's what Carlisle told me. I truly have no idea. I don't know if I'll even be able to control all of these powers as I get them," I responded, slowly walking back towards the counter. Esme brought over what she was making—scrambled eggs—and sat down on a stool across from me.

"I'm sure you will do fine, dear. All of us have any of the powers you could possibly get while you are here, so relax with the knowledge that you will not be alone. We will teach you as much as we know. Maybe you will discover even more and be able to teach us, huh?" she said, pouring the eggs onto a small wood plate. It looked like one of those tree cookies teachers show kids in third or fourth grade, when they learn about trees and the environment. This one was flat with a slight ridge around the edge. The other one on the counter was bowl-shaped with a spoon and fork whittled out of small branches laying next to it.

"I guess that's good," I responded, once I was done examining my "wood" wear. "I just can't understand why someone would want me dead because of a power I don't even have yet. It doesn't seem fair," I whined, starting to eat the food in front of me. Esme put her hand over mine.

"The bad guys never fight fair, Bella. It's why all of us are the way we are," she said sadly. "None of us had a fighting chance against our sires. Edward, of course, is a different story, even if none of us but you knows what that story is." I looked at her curiously for what seemed like the thousandth time that day.

"In all the years all of us have known each other, he has never once told us his story. None of us have pushed it, though, once he finally admitted what he was before he was changed." I nodded once and looked down at my food.

"Where is he now? I haven't seen him since he warned me about Alice and Rosalie," I asked, looking back up at her.

"Carlisle convinced him to go hunting before he takes you to school. His eyes were getting dark again," she answered. Before I could even give her the impression that she had lost me again, she explained what she meant. "When we need to hunt, our eyes turn black. They grow a darker and darker gold the longer we wait to hunt." I nodded in understanding, jumping when a small form popped up next to me.

"Time to go!" Alice yelled, even though she wasn't even a full foot away from me. I flinched and a booming laugh echoed into the room. I turned to see Emmett coming in a smile on his large face. The dimples on either side of his mouth softened his intimidating appearance, making him look like an overstuffed teddy bear. His eyes sparkled with joy and he picked me up by my waist, flinging me over his shoulder like a rag doll.

"See you later, Esme," Emmett boomed, walking towards the front door. I waved at Esme, my other arm propping my head up. She laughed and waved back, wishing me good luck. I sighed as Emmett carried me all the way outside, grabbing both my bag and his from the foot of the stairs as we—he—walked by. He dropped our bags on the ground once we were outside and Alice ran around to my legs, slipping shoes on my feet.

"Why did you grab her without letting her put shoes on first?" she squealed at him. He shrugged, putting me down gently. I looked down at my feet and sighed in relief to see a pair of light brown flats. At least the whole outfit wasn't going to be a recipe for disaster. Alice looked up through the trees, frowning.

"Good thing we're staying in Arcadia today," she said, making me feel like I wouldn't understand a thing anyone said all day at this point. Jasper laughed at my confusion.

"We tend to…shimmer…in the sun," he explained. "Our skin is as hard as diamonds, and shines almost as brightly in direct sunlight. In Arcadia, it doesn't really matter. No humans live here, and we're technically absent from that world if we are here." I nodded, expecting a headache by the end of the day if I kept nodding so much. I already felt one coming as I processed what he just said. I promised myself I'd ask Edward to explain that concept more later if we had enough time.

I turned and picked up my bag, spotting Edward coming out of the trees. His hands were in his jeans pockets and his muscles strained the soft green T-shirt he was wearing. His bronze hair was pointing in every direction, like always, and shimmered whenever the sunlight filtering through the trees hit it.

Something glimmered behind him, appearing and disappearing as he moved. I tilted my head to the side slightly and he raised an eyebrow at me, looking slightly worried. I walked slowly towards him, walking to his side and looking at his back. I gasped loudly at what I found, startling everyone else, but I was too shocked at what I saw to care.

Ghostly wings.

**A/N: I know, I know. Very cruel. But hopefully I get some more inspiration and the next chapter is finished by next week. If any of you have any ideas for this story, feel free to tell me! I'm open to suggestions.**

**By the way, I don't think many of you know this about me, but I am a spontaneous writer. All of my stories are written chapter by chapter as my mind comes up with this stuff. The only things that are planned are in the summary. The in-between stuff is completely random. :)**

**Please review and vote on my poll about another possible story idea!**

_**Angels of Twilight**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: Angel Wings and Pain**

Wings.

Wings.

_Ghost wings_.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Two translucent wings jutted from either side of Edward's spine, but it was easy to tell that they were not physically there. They moved with him, but they were just a ghost of what had been there so long ago.

"Bella?" Edward said, turning towards me so his wings moved from my sight. I blinked and shook my head before looking at him. His eyes expressed his worry without him using words.

"Are you okay?" he asked, reaching towards me. He put his hand on my arm, his gaze examining my face for any sign of something wrong. I quickly decided not to tell him, or at least not yet. I couldn't figure out what was happening fast enough to tell him what I was seeing.

"It's nothing. I thought I saw something. Nothing to worry about," I said, looking into the woods again for effect. I shook my head and looked at Edward, giving him a half-smile to reassure him. He didn't look convinced, but dropped the subject. I gave a mental sigh of relief and looked at the others, noticing Jasper looking at me strangely.

I almost smacked myself, shocked that I could have forgotten about Jasper's empathy. He knew something was still up, something I wasn't saying. I pleaded with him, both with my eyes and my emotions, not to say anything and he let his head fall to his chest slowly, letting me know he got the message. He gave me a look that told me the conversation wasn't over, but I figured he might be able to help me figure out what was happening to Edward.

Hopefully.

"Alright, let's go," Edward said, offering me his hand. I took it and gasped when he flung me onto his back. I wrapped my arms tightly around his neck and he brought my legs around him, securing me.

"You okay?" he asked, a smile in his voice. I nodded, my face next to his. He turned to look at me, watching me from the corner of his eye. I stared, mesmerized at the color of his eyes and his face so close to mine.

"Hang on," he said, confusing me. I tightened my grip on him, watching as Rose and Emmett shifted right before my eyes.

Rose quickly dropped her human guise, blood red fur erupting all over her shrinking form. In just a matter of seconds, a red fox sat down and looked at me, a contented look on its furry face. I looked over at Emmett, a light brown grizzly staring back at me. Happiness twinkled in his eyes, telling me it was definitely Emmett. I looked around for Jasper and Alice, but they were gone. Edward must have seen me searching and chuckled just as I felt a tug on my hair.  
I looked over my shoulder and gasped at the small human-shaped form hovering next to me. Alice's gossamer wings were tinted all different shade of pink, from neon pink to one that was almost red. She had a pink dress on to match, only one strap going over her left shoulder keeping it up. She flitted around me happily, stopping right in front of my face. Her face had a green tint under her skin, and her eyes were narrower. Jasper flew up next to her, a pair of khaki-colored pants on him and his skin the same tint as Alice's.

"What are you?" I asked quietly. She laughed, a sound like falling rain.

"We're sprites, silly!" she exclaimed. I tilted my head to the side.

"Then why have I heard everyone calling you a pixie?" I asked, half-teasing.

"I don't know, actually," Alice said, shrugging. "I guess it's meant to be a joke."

"Are we going now?" Edward said, sounding happy. I nodded and rested my chin on his shoulder, watching his wings twitch from the corner of my eyes.

Edward started walking into the woods surrounding the house and I gasped loudly as he ran as fast as he could, the wind stealing the sound from my mouth. I held him even tighter and buried my face in the crook of his neck, the rush of colors giving me a headache. He came to a stop a minute or so later, but I didn't raise my head. He smelled like the sky after a thunderstorm, and I just couldn't get myself to move. I felt him laugh silently and smiled against his skin.

"You can get off now," he said softly. I sighed and felt him shiver.

"I'm really content right where I am," I told his skin. He chuckled again.

"Well, as much as I hate to disturb you, I'm afraid you'll have to get down for us to go to school," he said, really sounding regretful. My heart gave a funny little leap-like thing at the thought.

"Crap," I said, lifting my head ad resting my chin on his shoulder again. I saw his wings twitch in reaction to his amusement as he looked at me from the corner of his eye. "Are you sure?" Something sparked in his eye for a moment before it disappeared. That was a big fat N.O., as far as I was concerned.

"Well, I'm sure the teachers would approve of you hanging off me like a clingy girlfriend." I felt the funny leap-thing again and swallowed loudly, not believing what I was going to do. But I did it anyway.

"Would you?" I said quietly. He tilted his head to the side, away from me so he could see me a little better.

"Well, you're still on my back, aren't you?" he said, a sly smile on his face. I smiled back and sighed again, his body shivering in reactions once again. We kept looking at each other for a few seconds more before I sighed again in defeat.

"Fine. School wins this battle, but the war's not over yet," I said, relaxing my legs. He held them where they were.

"Umm…Edward…school can't win if you don't let me go," I said, letting a small amount of the massive joy I felt seep into my voice.

He sighed in response before letting my legs slowly fall. He spun in my arms, his face only an inch from mine, and put his hands on my sides. My grip around his neck loosened, but my eyes never left his and his never moved from mine. He gently set me on the ground, but we didn't move after that. My hands were splayed on his chest and his hands were still gently grasping my hips. He moved one hand slowly up to my cheek, his thumb brushing back and forth over my skin.

"Woo, what's going on here?" Emmett's loud voice boomed, making us spring apart in surprise. Both of our heads whipped to the trees, where he and a fox-Rosalie were just emerging. Jasper and Alice were on his shoulder, still in their Sprite form. I looked behind me to see what looked like an ancient building built right into the side of a rather large hill. The front door was right in the side of the hill, looking like it had been there the whole time. We were at school in what looked like a courtyard.

"Nothing," Edward replied, a little too fast even to my ears. Emmett laughed in response, a rumbling laugh that hurt my ears.

"Yeah, and I wasn't just a grizzly a few minutes ago," he said sarcastically. 'You two were about to get it on, weren't you?" he exclaimed, pointing at the two of us. Edward crossed his arms over his chest and I took a step closer to him, seeing his temper rising.

"Maybe we were, maybe we weren't," Edward said coolly. "Either way, I don't see how it's any of your business." I put a hand on his shoulder, trying to keep him calm.

"Oh, yay!" Alice squealed, flying off Emmett and landing on my shoulder instead. "I had a vision about this!" I turned my head and looked at her.

"What are you talking about, Alice?" I asked, thrown off for a second by her form. She giggles and shook her finger at me.

"Nuh uh. I'm not telling."She crossed her little arms over her chest and smiled innocently.

"Oh, no, Alice. That's not happening. Not again," Edward said sternly. I turned and stared at him, confused.

"You saw?" Alice exclaimed unhappily. "That takes all the fun out of it!" Edward glared at her, not amused.

"What is going on?" I asked, getting frustrated. Edward turned his gaze to me, his eyes softening.

"I can read minds. She looked back at her vision and forgot to block me out, so I saw what she saw," he explained.

"And…" I coaxed. He chuckled and looked at the ground.

"She saw herself and the two of us together. She was meddling, like she always does with relationships." Edward shook his head.

"What did you mean, not again?" I asked. He looked up at me and sighed.

"I went through…a depression for a while. She kept trying to set me up with people she thought I would like to get me to be happy again, even for just a short time. I didn't like any of them the way she expected me to. They had no interest in _me_, just what I could give them," he answered, rolling his eyes at the last part. "I did appreciate the gesture, though," he added on at the end, looking at Alice.

"So they were like those witches back in Forks?" I continued, not yet feeling bad for prying. He nodded.

"Exactly like them."

"Yeah, but Bella's different than those others. She's got more than just hot air between her ears," Emmett said.

"I know that," Edward said. "That's more than we can say for you sometimes. You don't always think with the head on your shoulders."

"Wha... Hey!" Emmett exclaimed. "I can't help it if I exercise one more than the other. That brain has needs too, ya know."

"That's no reason to neglect the other," Edward countered, a sly smile touching his lips. I laughed at their antics, catching Alice when she almost fell off my shoulder.

"Sorry about that. I forgot you were up there for a second," I apologized. She shrugged.

"It's okay, but we're gonna be late if we don't get in there in the next few minutes," she said, jumping off my shoulder and changing back into her human shape. She looked exactly the same way she had when she was sitting on my shoulder, but she left her human disguise off. Jasper did the same, growing to his normal height right next to her.

Edward picked up my bag and his own from the ground and gently bumped my shoulder. He jerked his head in the direction of…well, what looked like the front of the school, and we started walking. I felt a strange…something, like a tingling slowly growing stronger as I looked at the school and the faces looking out at us. It stopped almost as quickly as it started, though, so I brushed it off. I was feeling a little nervous, that's all. We had only made it a few steps when Alice yelled and Edward's arms wrapped around my waist as he jumped towards the forest.

There was a huge explosion a few seconds before we hit the ground, one of my arms pinned under Edward's body. Something knocked the breath out of me and I struggled to breath, unable to move from fear and pain. I was face-down on the ground and he was facing me on his side, shielding me from the debris I could hear whistling by overhead. I felt one hit my thigh as it fell, cutting through my pants and into my calf. I bit my lip to keep from crying out, but I could feel blood start trickling out of the wound. Edward growled, probably smelling the blood, and pressed my head against his chest with one hand on my cheek.

Another explosion went off only a few seconds after the first, the force of the blast making it even harder for me to breathe. Smaller pieces rained down on us, cutting into the skin on my free arm and my legs. What felt like a bigger piece hit the side of my back and I thought I heard something crack. I didn't feel anything for a second before the pain exploded in my side, followed once again by my leg and the rest of my body. I gasped out loud and Edward growled again, unable to do anything until everything stopped falling. There was a final burst of dust as everything settled and Edward slowly shifted up, making sure he didn't hurt me.

I was still gasping for breath. It felt like no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't get any air. I looked up at Edward as he looked down at me, pain and anguish on his face as he surveyed the damage. There was a rush of footsteps before even more gasps were heard. The sound quickly faded, though, as my heart started beating faster and faster. I still couldn't breathe. It felt like I was drowning. I tried to pay attention to what they were doing instead of the mounting pain and lack of air. It worked for a short time.

Edward was carefully brushing off my back, while other hands got the weight off my legs. I kept hearing someone mumble, but I couldn't tell who it was. I closed my eyes as tears started falling from the corners of my eyes, the pain making my body pulse and burn. I felt someone pick up my injured leg and I gasped, this time unable to keep myself quiet. This only made my deprived lungs join in the increasing pain.

I was fully crying now, the reality of what had just happened finally hitting me. I was gasping and gasping, unable to stop my crying, but also unable to breathe right. I felt my other lung quickly starting to fill up; they were collapsing.

Someone was rinsing my leg, the water burning as it cleaned my wound. I turned my face into the ground and bit my lip again, my teeth quickly sinking into the skin with the force of my bite. They quickly placed something cool over it and wrapped it up, the pressure making me whimper before I caught myself. I had to open my mouth and try to suck in a breath, my nose filling up from my crying. I still couldn't get anything. My vision started spotting as I felt Edward shift next to me.

"Bella…Bella, I need to roll you over. I think you cracked a rib. It's what's making it so hard to breathe," Edward's voice explained quickly. I heard someone else ask him what he was going to do, but he spoke too softly for me to hear. I thought it was Jasper's. I felt Edward's hand land softly over my injured rib, trying to keep it still as they slowly rolled me over, but it shifted just slightly enough. I screamed with all the breath I had left in my lungs as I felt it shift upward, straight into the bottom of my other lung.

"Bella!" I heard Edward cry out. I was gasping even more, my chest burning as blood filled my other lung. My lungs finally stopped trying to get air and my body stilled, my heart the only thing still moving. It was beating frantically, erratically, as I heard Edward yelling.

"Bella! Bella, hang on. Don't give up yet. Please, Bella, hang on," he kept saying.

I could see him on his knees next to me, but I couldn't see what he was doing. All of the sounds around me, Edward's voice, cries from somewhere in the distance, the crackle of the fire left over from the blast, all of them blurred together into silence. I felt the burning in my lungs stop, the feeling of drowning disappear, and a slow heat spread throughout my body. But it was too late.

The last thing I saw was white feathers reaching towards me.

**A/N: Now, you can ask me questions, but I can't promise I'll answer them. If they'll reveal something that I think will happen later, then I won't, but if it's just a little clarification you need, feel free to review or PM them!**

**I know this chapter's a little depressing, but it's just what came to me. Got no idea what's going to happen after this, so let's keep fingers crossed that the next is a little…well, not happier, just yet, but not as destructive.**

**Please Review and don't forget about my poll! :)**

_**~Angels of Twilight**_


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Faith**

_Sometimes it takes losing something to find_

_out how much you really needed it._

Death wasn't so bad. I had no sense of time, but there was also none of that horrible pain. There were no flames engulfing the remnants of my school, no faces staring out of the windows at me as the building exploded, no flying debris . . . No nothing. Just blackness and silence.

I felt like I was floating. I tried to turn to see what was behind me, but I never seemed to move. There was a sensation of moving, of turning in the direction I wanted to, but nothing changed. I looked in every direction possible, but the only thing I ever saw was a fleeting glance of a single white feather, but it was gone before I could actually look at it. Seeing it stirred something in the back of my mind, but I couldn't think of what it was. I tried again, but nothing showed itself. I gave up for the moment, just waning to relax in the silence surrounding me.

"_Bella . . ._" a smooth voice said quietly. It stirred that place just like the feather, but still nothing happened. I tried to hang onto the voice, keep replaying the sound of it, but it quickly faded. I felt like I should have known who that was, but I couldn't think. It bothered me that I couldn't remember.

I focused on that spot in the back of my mind, the one the feather and the voice had affected. It was still now, but I was still able to find it. I . . . well, it felt like I pressed on whatever was around it and it slowly molded around my hand, but it was resistant. I kept pushing and it slowly surrounded my entire—being, I guess. I really didn't have a body.

A light slowly grew from a pinprick to a glow, slowly engulfing all of the darkness around me. I felt like I was coming up from the depths of the ocean, breaking through the surface of the water. The light slowly dimmed, revealing trees, grass . . . and people. People I knew. People surrounding . . . _me_.

I was laying on the ground, just like I remembered before I died, and two people were there, hovering over me. Both looked extremely distraught, one with dark blonde hair and a pained face, the other with bronze-like hair and distress, as well as sadness, marring his perfect features. His topaz eyes were glistening with unshed tears as he frantically called to my unresponsive body.

"Bella! Bella, no! Don't go, Bella!" he kept repeating. I recognized the voice, the smoothness that had disturbed my silence, even as torn by grief as it was.

I drifted closer, positioning myself at my body's head. I looked down at myself, my clothes shredded beyond recognition, my body not in much better condition. My legs were torn to shreds and there was blood everywhere. It had started pooling around me from my side; a small piece of my rib was jutting out.

The boy's hands hovered over me, wanting to help but having no clue what to do. I could hear a slight _thump_ sound, only happening every few seconds, but it was barely perceptible. It slowed down more and more the longer I stood there.

So, I wasn't dead, I was just unconscious. I must have somehow broken free of my body.

"It's because you're dying," a voice said from right behind me. I turned quickly and gasped as I saw Charlie standing there, his form drifting in an invisible breeze. I ran to him, but he put his hands up in front of him, stopping me in my tracks.

"Charlie…" I whispered, feeling hurt by the rejection. He shook his head.

"If you touch me, Bella, there's no going back," he said quietly. His eyes reflected his sadness, but the tight smile on his face told me he wished it were different. He walked over next to my body and shook his head.

"He could save you if he would just focus. All he needs to do is trust himself and he could save you," Charlie mumbled, staring at the guy. I walked up next to him, looking at the frustration on his face.

"You'd think his love would be enough," he continued, his frustration even more apparent. My breath caught in my throat and my eyes widened so much they should have fallen out of my head. Charlie turned abruptly, his eyes as shocked as mine.

"I wasn't supposed to say that out loud," Charlie said, grimacing. I took a step closer to him, just far enough so his misty form couldn't touch me accidentally.

"Is that . . . is that . . . true?" I asked, unable to get the words past the lump in my throat. Charlie sighed and nodded, running his hand over his face. He turned back to what was going on, but I wasn't done.

"Charlie, why . . . why can't I remember them? I can remember _you_," I asked, tilting my head to the side. He turned back to me, thinking about what I said, before turning back once more.

"We are in our own little world right now, a bubble that allows you to see what is happening from outside your body when your soul starts to drift away," Charlie explained. "You should only know those who are in this world with you, unless you are reminded of the people outside. It's a way of giving closure, or something. People don't remember who they left behind, but they have the option of asking to if they want." I nodded once, and turned to the boy leaning over me, rocking back and forth as he watched me fade before his eyes. I walked over and knelt behind him before looking up at Charlie again.

"I want to know."

So he told me. He told me how I was living with this boy and his family, that they were vampires, and that we had been going to school when it exploded. The boy saved me from the brunt of the blast and the debris, but some of it still managed to hurt me. He told me the blond-haired boy's name was Jasper, and the other was Edward.

Just like a rubber band snapping back into place, all of my memories came rushing back to me. Every minute of my life flashed before my eyes in vivid detail. My feelings whipped past, making me think I would have had a massive migraine if it had been in the real world. One feeling, though, stuck with me: love. My love for Edward would not leave, from the beginning of my memories flooding my mind to the end. My love for him was all I could feel. I looked back at Edward, fiercely holding back the impulse to touch him. I didn't know if I could, but I really wanted to.

"I can't lose you, Bella. I can't," Edward whispered to himself, rocking back and forth next to me. He had taken my hand in both of his and raised it up to his face. I reached out and touched his shoulder, not able to keep away from him anymore.

"You don't have to," I whispered, leaning forward so my mouth was next to his ear. His body tensed in response. "You know what to do to save me. You just have to believe you can.

He stayed tensed for a second before my heart gave a funny lurch, the beats irregular as they struggled to keep my body alive. He slowly reached out, putting a hand over my heart, before quickly putting the other over it as my heart beat for the final time. He closed his eyes and bowed his head in concentration, tears streaking down his distraught face. He didn't let his emotions distract him.

His hands slowly took on a soft glow that grew more and more bright as he concentrated. It slowly moved up his arms and spread over the rest of his body, a blanket of power enveloping him. It stayed there for a moment, the light pulsing in time with his heart, before the glow spread to me. It landed on my chest from his hands and slowly spread over my still form, coating my injuries in a pulsing light. The glow focused over my heart, pulsing just like it was on Edward. His body tensed even more, the tendons in his neck bulging while the muscles over his body strained against his clothes.

The glow smoothly disappeared into my body, but Edward didn't move. It shone from within me, glowing brighter and brighter until Jasper had to look away in pain. It stayed at that intensity for a few seconds, but nothing happened. Edward let out a snarl of frustration, forcing even more of his power into me.

"Come on," he said forcefully. The light over my body began to beat faster, but still nothing happened. He kept pushing more and more into me, the pulsing increasing with the amount of power. I felt a tug on my body, or at least the one I was floating around in, and looked at Charlie.

"Don't fight it. Your body is calling you back. He's starting your heart again and healing your wounds in the process." His expression changed to reversed happiness. "Tell him it'll be easier after this. He just had to open up the channels again." I scrunched my eyebrows.

"What does that mean?" I asked. Charlie shook his head. "He should know what I mean."

I turned back to Edward, watching the beads of sweat travel down the side of his face. I backed away towards my body's head and stared at him, feeling the tug grow stronger. His eyes were squeezed shut now, and tears still fell from his eyes. I could feel something building in my body through the connection, something good, and I didn't have to wait long.

Everything seemed to happen at the same time, and I had no idea how I was able to keep track of it all. I was yanked back into my body, a sensation like falling from a high place and waiting for the impact, but none came. I slowed just as I reached my body, gently settling back where I belonged. At the exact same time, my heart gave its first beat and two enormous, pure white wings erupted from Edward's back, spreading and extending behind him.

After that, that blackness claimed me once more.

I was lying on something soft, with something incredibly warm next to me. I didn't feel any of the pain I had felt before, but my body was stiff. I felt the warm something—some_one_— shift next to me, and a weight settled over my stomach while another was already on my chest. A soft breeze blew over my face, bringing with it the smell of recently fallen rain.

_Edward_.

I turned my head and let it fall towards him, his hair brushing against my chin. I inhaled deeply, his scent still the smell of the air just after a thunderstorm. He stirred under me and lifted his head, his hair brushing against my face.

"Bella?" he whispered, sleep slurring his words. I slowly opened my eyes, blinking at the bright light.

My eyes found Edward's and he smiled, both relief and happiness lighting his features as he gently took my hand. I gave him a small smile back and a tear slipped down his face, landing softly on my arm. He laid his head back down over my heart and I could feel tears soaking into my shirt. I slowly moved my arm around him, leaving my hand in his hair. I ran my fingers through it repeatedly and he sighed, squeezing my other hand in his.

"I love this sound," Edward whispered into my chest.

"What?" I asked, my voice hoarse from lack of use. He lifted his head and smiled at me, his green eyes twinkling in joy.

"Your heartbeat," he replied, still smiling brightly. I shook my head and put my own hand against his chest. What I felt brought my attention back to something I had noticed before.

His heart was beating under the palm of my hand, and Edward was staring at me with emerald green eyes. I gasped and my hands shot to his face, holding it so I could see is eyes. Sure enough, his topaz eyes were now a deep green. As I watched, though, the color swirled and changed back to the color I had known them to be. Edward chuckled at the astonishment on my face as I moved a hand back to his chest. He leaned forward so his mouth was next to my ear.

"You gave me back my powers, Bella. My need to save you gave them back to me," he said, his breath tickling my ear. I turned my head towards him and my nose bushed along his jaw.

"You know what else you did for me, Bella?" he asked, tucking his face into the crook of my neck. I shook my head, rubbing my face against the top of his hair at the same time.

"My wings," he answered, a feather-light touch brushing down my arm.

I remembered, as I had fallen back into my body, watching wings sprout from Edward's back as he tried to save me. I turned my head, coming face to face with a solid wall of white feathers. One of Edward's wings was draped over my body, keeping me warm just like a blanket. I picked my hand up and slowly ran my fingers along the edge of his wing, the feathers softer than velvet. It seemed to glow in the sunlight coming from outside. I turned back to Edward, who had moved his head back onto my chest, to see him staring at me with his eyebrows scrunched together.

"What?" I asked, my own brows shifting in confusion. He huffed.

"You probably don't realize this yet, but . . . you have your full power now," Edward said. "I just can't believe you haven't shown any lack of control."

"When did that happen?" I asked. He smiled, relaxing against me.

"Right before the explosion, I felt the powers of the students in the school travel to you. You got all of us too, except for Carlisle and Esme." Just as he said that, I felt a tingling sensation quickly move through my body, disappearing almost as quickly as it came. Edward's face reflected mild shock and then humor, a crooked smile on his lips.

"Well, I take that back. Now you've got all of us," he said, chuckling.

"That's what that feeling was?" I asked. He nodded once.

"Huh," I responded rather brightly. He chuckled again and closed his eyes, giving me a fleeting glance of green once again as he turned his face into my chest. He seemed to feel that I had a question and opened one of his eyes, his green gaze looking straight into mine.

"Are you still a . . . vampire?" I asked. His eyebrows scrunched together again in thought.

"I think I am," he said, not sounding completely sure himself. "When I was—well, not a vampire, but not exactly alive, either—it always felt like I had a second set of veins that pumped my energy . . . my power . . . through my body. I have a feeling that it's not my heart beating blood, but my power rushing through me again. I think it's what's making me warm, as well. I'm like a light bulb," he said with a chuckle. "I get hot when power runs through me." I laughed.

"You know, that makes sense," I said jokingly. "You seem much brighter now than you did." He chuckled and shook his head, closing his eye. I ran my hand through his hair again and listened as his breathing quickly slowed and evened out under my touch. I smiled and closed my eyes.

I should have asked him about the explosion. I should have asked him what caused it. I should have asked him if anyone was hurt. I should have asked him what was going to happen now.

I should have asked him a lot of things. But I didn't. I couldn't ruin the moment. I had no idea what would happen now. I had to take every moment I could, so I joined Edward in a peaceful slumber.

**A/N: I know it was short, but yesterday was my birthday and school is starting to give projects and reports, so I haven't had a heap of time to write. Also, this chapter was basically Edward getting his powers back, but I'm only going to write so much for now.**

**If you have any ideas for this story, feel free to let me know! I'm always open to new ideas!**

**My poll is still up, too, so if you haven't voted, please do so! :)**

_**~Angels of Twilight**_


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Flying**

_Soaring with the birds doesn't have to be a figment of the imagination._

When I woke up the next morning, Edward and his warm wings were gone, replaced by a comforter. It wasn't nearly as warm as he was, which disappointed me. The voice I heard before I opened my eyes had the exact opposite effect.

"What in the world could have put that look on your face so early in the morning?" Edward said, humor spilling from his words. I opened my eyes to see him looking at me from the end of the bed, dressed only in a pair of jeans and the drops of water left on his feathers from his shower. He twitched his wings, flicking the dew-like drops to the floor. I smiled at the sight.

"There we go," he said with a chuckle. He walked over and sat on the edge of the bed next to me, a small, slightly worried smile on his face. "How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by semi . . . or three. . . and then got kissed by an angel," I answered, my eyes only half open and a sly smile on my face. I shivered for a moment, and gripped the comforter tighter to me. He smiled back, obviously taking notice of my discomfort.

"Oh really? And who was this angel? I think I might have to speak to him," he answered, laying down so I was leaning on him. He wrapped his wings around us, instantly warming me. I looked up at him.

"I don't think I'll give you his name. You'll have to convince me, or I won't say anything," I said, crossing my arms over my chest under his wings and resting my head against his chest. The soft feathers brushed against my arms, making me smile. Edward put his arms around me, his arms resting just under mine.

"I'll have to convince you, huh?" he said, and I nodded. "Okay, then."

He tipped my head up towards him with one hand, the other staying where it was on my abdomen. My head was still on his chest, so he didn't have to hold it, which he took full advantage of. He cupped the side of my face in his hand and ran his thumb over my cheek. His thumb continued its journey along my jaw line and to my chin. My breaths were shallow and raspy, which his chuckled told me he noticed. He was staring down at my lips, but his eyes tended to roam over my face before staring at them once more. His thumb ran over my bottom lip and my breath hitched, my heart forgetting to beat. He slowly leaned forward, his hand moving back to the side of my face, and I tried to remember to breathe. He was smiling as he watched my eyes, still continuing his descent. He stopped just before his lips met mine, his breath mixing with mine.

"Have I convinced you yet?" he asked. I gave a spastic shake of my head and he gave me a crooked smile in return. I leaned up and met his lips with mine, unable to wait any longer.

At first, he tensed in surprise, but he quickly relaxed, his body molding around mine. Our lips moved together in perfect sync, his taste flooding my mind. He was sweet, fresh, like nothing humanity could possibly make. He was the earth, inside and out. Mother Nature was his guardian, and he her child.

Edward pulled away just as I started getting light-headed, a large smile on his face. I closed my eyes and tucked my face into his neck, taking in his scent as much as I could. I felt like I was flying. We were no longer on my bed, in a house; we were being carried by the wind, where it pleased, but it didn't matter. As long as I was with him, I felt like I would be happy flying forever. Even if I wasn't physically touching the sky, my heart, mind, and soul were another story, completely free from the binds of the physical world and floating along with him in the clouds.

"You look convinced now," Edward whispered in my ear, effectively bringing me back to earth, back to him. I looked up into his eyes and nodded once, feeling quite drunk from him. He smiled down at me, leaning down once more and placing a kiss at the corner of my mouth.

"So, do I know this angel?" he asked, still playing along. I nodded once, trying not to make myself dizzy. "Hmm . . ." he said, the sound vibrating in his chest and into my back. The feeling made my breath hitch. "What else can you tell me about him?"

"He has messy copper hair, gold eyes, and really big, really warm, white wings," I said, finding my voice again. He made that humming sound again and my body trembled against him for a moment.

"Can he read minds?" Edward asked, looking down at me with faux-confusion. I nodded.

"Everyone's except mine." He looked at me strangely, but I could see the twinkle in his eye that let me know he was joking around.

"You know, Bella, this guy sounds a lot like me," he said in shock. "You have very good taste," he continued, smiling slyly at me. I smirked back at him before turning myself over in his embrace and wrapping my arms around his waist. He sighed into my hair and ran his fingers through it, lulling me into a light doze.

A voice woke me some time later. They were speaking softly, but I could feel Edward's chest rumble with his response. I sighed loudly and yawned, rolling over so I was lying next to Edward. I saw Carlisle standing just inside the room and smiled. I felt Edward kiss the top of my head, and Carlisle smiled softly, happily.

"I see you are feeling better, Bella," he said. I nodded against Edward's chest. "I am glad. All of us were quite worried about you, my dear." I blushed and looked away from him, looking instead at Edward's feathers. I thought of my questions from before I fell asleep and looked at Carlisle again, not sure if I wanted to even ask. Carlisle noticed my indecision and continued to look at me, clasping his hands behind his back as he waited for me to answer. I sighed loudly, finally deciding that I'd find out sooner or later.

"Carlisle . . . what . . . what about those kids? The ones who were in the school?" I asked hesitantly. Just because I was going to find out didn't mean I was excited about it, nor did it mean I really wanted to know, and he realized it. He smiled sadly.

"Many were able to shield themselves in some way from the blast, but not in time to completely save themselves from injury. Quite a few were hurt badly, but only a couple are critical. Luckily, no one died. It seems as though those who could not shield themselves were able to get behind or were covered by another's protection. The fairies and nymphs were able to put the flames out about a minute after the blast, which was quite fortunate," Carlisle explained, saving me from having to ask more questions. He paused though, and a frown appeared on his face. "What we don't know is what caused it, though. The fairies and nymphs . . . they said these flames were different. No more difficult to control than normal, but there was something about them that was . . . different."

"Could it have been . . . the . . . the sorcerer?" I asked, adamantly hoping he said no. He tilted his head to the side as he looked at me, thinking about what I said.

"That is quite possible. The sorcerer could have blown up the school with a spell, which would explain why the flames were not normal." He shook his head. "But there is no use guessing about what could have caused it when it already happened."

"Carlisle, how is everyone now? Is there anything I can do?" I asked. I figured with all the powers I had now, there had to be something I could do to help. Carlisle looked at Edward, who I felt look back at him. I looked back and forth between them, waiting for someone to say _something_.

"I don't see why you couldn't help, as long as you promise to stop when you begin to tire," Carlisle said with a shrug. "You should have the ability to heal from Edward, so I think he could help you learn how by helping the people here. He told me you absorbed all of the powers of the beings in the school just before you die—"

"_NO_!" Edward roared, leaning up and staring at Carlisle. "No! She didn't!" He was crushing me to his chest, not enough to hurt me, but enough to let me know the strength of his feelings at that moment. Denial. Pain. Anguish. Loss. All of these emotions rampaged through his body, Jasper's ability letting me feel them too. I gasped at their strength, having difficulty breathing between the impact of them hitting me and Edward's grip on my body. I looked up at Edward, his eyes completely black with his anger, his pain. His guilt.

I reached up towards his face, only getting as far as the base of his neck, thanks to his grip. I put my hand on the side of his neck and rubbed my thumb slowly over his skin, still trying to fill my lungs. He was breathing harshly as well, his chest rising to squish me, and then let me go. I rested my head against his chest, trying to get him to calm down. I didn't know how to use Jasper's power just yet, so I decided to do without it so I didn't accidentally cause more harm than good.

"Edward," I breathed out the next time his chest fell. He didn't seem to hear me. His eyes were staring straight ahead, but they were looking at nothing. His mind wasn't there, but his body was. He was in the past, and, slowly, what he was seeing appeared in my mind.

It was when I was dying.

He was replaying that moment over and over again, repeatedly feeling the anguish and loss that had run through him when it seemed like my heart had stopped. It hadn't but with how it was beating, he thought for sure that I was already gone. He kept trying, though. He wasn't going to give me up without a fight.

I pulled back and my thumb paused on Edward's neck. He was still in the memory, torturing himself over and over with what could have happened, what he could have lost. I stretched up as far as he would let me and kissed the side of his neck, letting my breath waft over his smooth, pale skin. My thumb went back to caressing him as I tried to bring him back to me.

"Edward, please, I'm right here," I said, kissing his neck again. "I'm still alive, I'm right here with you. Come back to me, Edward."

I kept talking to him, kept trying to get him to hear me, and he finally loosened his grip not too long after. Carlisle had left, knowing I needed time to get him back, to help him get over this. Edward's head dropped to his chest and he pulled his knees up, surrounding me with his body. His arms were still wrapped around me, but now it felt like he was clinging to me, like he never wanted to let go, like he _needed_ to hold onto me, or something would happen. I didn't move, not wanting him to freak out again, and he rested his forehead on my shoulder. His body shuddered against mine and I moved my hand from his neck to his hair, running my fingers through it. I buried my face in his neck and sighed.

"I'm here, Edward. I'm here," I whispered to his skin.

He turned his face into my neck and I could feel wetness on his face. His body still trembled and I wrapped my arms around him as best I could as he laid on the bed. He rolled us onto our sides, lifting himself slightly for a second to get his wing out of the way, and I let my hand drift to his lower back, my hand massaging circles into the exposed skin there. He finally stopped trembling a little while later, his face now tearstained with the dried moisture.

"I almost failed again," he whispered, his guilt drowning his words. "I almost lost you." I nuzzled my face closer to his neck.

"But you didn't," I said, moving my hand from his back to the side of his neck again. I moved my head back so I could look at him, trying to erase his guilt in any way possible.

"You protected me, Edward. You saved me. I'm standing here because of you. You did not fail," I said sternly. He still looked at me with sadness in his eyes, but didn't say anything. I propped myself up on my elbow, his arms falling from around me and his eyes growing even more sad. I put my hand under his chin.

"Edward, why is that not good enough for you? I feel like I'm having the same conversation from before, where I had to convince you that you could protect me," I said, exasperated. "This _proves_ that you can protect me! This _proves_ that you can do what you were meant to do! _You did not fail_ _me, Edward_." I resisted the urge to shake him, but just barely. He lay there and stared at me for a while as I pleaded with him to accept what I said, let go of his guilt, understand that I didn't blame him for what _almost_ happened.

"Okay," he whispered, so low I almost didn't hear it. He never moved his gaze from mine.

"Okay, what, Edward?" I asked, trying to tone down my frustration. He blinked once.

"It's good enough," he whispered again, his eyes softening and the guilt finally dissipating from him. I looked at him warily.

"So, if someone mentions that I almost—" I started, but he quickly interrupted before I could even begin to say "died."

"Please, Bella . . . don't. I don't want to be reminded of . . . that," he said, his eyes pleading with me to understand. I watched him for a moment before giving a slight nod.

"You have to promise me something, Edward," I said. He nodded.

"Anything." I gave a small, tight smile in response.

"You have to promise me that you will try to keep calm if someone brings it up. You cannot explode like you did at Carlisle, Edward. I know I can't ask you to get over what happened so soon, and I won't, but I want you to promise me that you'll try to stay calm," I said, talking slowly and seriously to him. He squeezed his eyes shut.

"I will try," he responded quietly. I sighed and smiled before kissing his forehead and leaning back to look at him again.

"That is all I ask, Edward. That is all I ask."

I leaned forward and Edward met me half way, our lips touching in an explosion of sensations, just as they had before. My mind took off again, reaching the heavens as his tongue ran along my bottom lip. I granted him entrance and we battled for dominance before I drew back, unable to hold off breathing for much longer. It was good timing, though, because Carlisle showed up again just as I caught my breath. He had a look of regret on his face as he looked at us, me half draped over Edward, who was finally back to himself, as much as he could be. We sat up against the trunk of the tree I called my bed and faced him, me leaning against Edward.

"I am sorry, son. I did not mean to upset you," Carlisle said, staying just outside the room. He was oozing sadness along with the regret, and the trees around us seeming to sag, their leaves dull in response. Edward sighed.

"I should be the one to apologize, father. I should have been able to control myself better than that. I should not have yelled and reacted in such a way," he said slowly, like he was chastising himself as he apologized. Carlisle shook his head with a small smile on his face, crossing him arms over his chest.

"I think we can agree that there should be no more apologizing this day. It does not make for a happy home," he said. Edward smiled and nodded.

"I have to agree." I got up and Edward followed, taking my hand in his. Carlisle walked down the hall two doors before entering, waving me in before I could even hesitate. I followed, entering more slowly than he did, especially when I saw who was on the bed. My heart jumped into my throat and I stopped in my tracks, Edward almost running into me. I heard him ask me what was wrong, but I couldn't answer. I just kept staring at the person on the bed.

_Jacob Black_.

**A/N: Okay, so a bunch of fluff in the beginning. If you've read any of my other stories, namely Finding Courage, you will know that I have a very hard time writing an entire chapter of fluff. Something important always happens where it's small or large.**

**Anyway, Kiragirl93 gave me quite the idea in one of her reviews. I'm not using it exactly, but this is where it is introduced. You won't find out too much yet, but it will come. (Thank you! :-])**

**Please review! I'd love to know if you have a guess as to where this is going! I won't tell you, but I think it'd be fun, for both you and me. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Old Friends**

_Friends are family you can choose to make up for the ones given to you._

Jacob was glaring at Carlisle, having yet to see me. He looked just the same as he had before, just more muscular and his hair was slightly longer, still tied back in the leather strap he never left home without. His clothes were singed and there were large burns on his legs. The skin was burned black and cracked from the flames, little rivulets of blood oozing out.

"Get away from me, leech," he seethed, baring his teeth. Carlisle paid no mind, though.

"Jacob Black!" I yelled. "How dare you call him that, especially when he's trying to help you!" His head jerked around and his eyes widened when he finally saw me.

"Be—. . . Bella?" he said, propping himself up on his elbows to get a better look at me. He looked shocked to see me, but . . . something was . . . not quite convincing. Like he was . . . _acting_, or something.

"Yeah, it's me," I said, thinking nothing of what I thought I'd seen. I must have just imagined it, not seeing him for so long.

"How . . . What happened? How did you end up here?" he asked, this time looking more than half sincere. I gave him a tight smile.

"Long story, but after Renee died and I came to live with—" I stopped, my voice catching in my throat. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes and I felt Edward squeeze my hand in understanding. I squeezed back and swallowed a few times before continuing.

"Once I came to live with Charlie, I've stayed in Forks ever since. This Arcadia thing happened about three weeks ago now, as far as I remember. I only got my powers . . . three days ago?" I said, unsure. I turned and looked at Edward.

"Give or take," he added, smiling at me softly. I looked back at Jacob and his face was tight for a moment. He was looking at Edward, but his face quickly relaxed when he looked at me.

"I heard what happened to Charlie," Jake said, truly sad. "I'm really sorry I wasn't there for you, Bella." I shook my head.

"There was nothing that could have been done, Jake. He was . . . attacked . . . and whatever got him, wants me now, too. I'm guessing you know that, though, since the school blast seems to have gotten you." His eyes widened and his breath halted mid-inhale.

"That was meant for you?" he exclaimed. "Why would someone want you dead?" I shrugged and shook my head, not trusting myself to say anything. I was getting that weird feeling from him again . . . like he was hiding something, and everything he was doing was all an act to hide it.

"I don' know, Jake. We guess it's because I'm a Seer, but that's only a guess. We really have no idea," I said, once I got myself under control. He shook his head and sighed, lying back down on the bed. Carlisle walked closer to Jake and Jake's whole body tensed, but he didn't say anything, his gaze shooting between me and Carlisle.

"Jake, what are _you_ doing here?" I asked, not remembering anything about him being . . . _supernatural_, or whatever we're called. He had been just like any other boy when we were younger. He smiled, genuinely happy that I'd asked.

"Well, on your last trip to Florida . . . what, ten years ago now?" he asked. I nodded. It was the last time I saw my mother before she died. "Something happened to me and a bunch of others down on the rez. A few of us seemed to come down with the flu, a day or two apart from the others. After about four days, we miraculously got better, but we were always hot. Billy didn't act worried. He actually seemed . . . _happy_. I asked him what was going on with all of us, and he called a tribe meeting. He told us the story of our ancestors, how they were so closer to Nature, that She blessed them with the ability to fight the unnatural, the undead, those that tainted her world, in the form of a wolf. They were called the 'Cold Ones' and we are what the humans call werewolves," he finished, looking directly at Carlisle and Edward. He glared at them for a few more seconds before turning back to me and continuing.

"The Cold Ones were what we call vampires now, and we—those of us that got sick—are werewolves. We were made to fight them, to rid the world of them. Every time a vampire comes near, we are able to change. We don't age as long as we can change. A little while after the vampire leaves or is killed, we stop changing and start aging again. I came to Arcadia with the others so we could practice changing and fighting. Since there are vampires here, we can always change. We don't kill them in this world, though, unless they threaten us. Here, they are . . . _natural_," he spit out. "They are as normal as any of the other creatures that live here, so it's the perfect place for us." I nodded, and Carlisle called me before I could respond.

"Bella, I was hoping you could practice your power on him, since he is opposed to me doing so. I did not know the two of you knew each other," Carlisle said, mild surprise in his tone.

"Yeah, we basically grew up together. He was always at my house, or I was at his, while I was in Forks. He was like my brother," I said, shrugging one shoulder. Jake smiled, but there was that . . . _something_ again. He looked . . . _guilty_ . . . _regretful _. . . and I had no idea why.

"Would you be opposed to Bella trying to heal you?" Carlisle asked Jacob, purposefully not saying his name. Jake glared at Carlisle like he wasn't going to answer, but promptly shook his head once. I walked over and stood next to Carlisle, who was at the foot of Jake's bed. I looked down at his legs, wincing.

"That's got to hurt," I said, unable to look away. I heard him chuckle and looked at him.

"Well, it would have healed by now, but there was something about that fire . . . something _different_ . . ." he said, almost quoting the fairies and nymphs. "I think it's keeping my powers from healing me."

"Well, I'll see what I can do," I said, slowly sitting down next to his legs on the bed. I didn't want to move them too much by doing so, but I saw him wince for a moment before covering it up. Edward stood behind me and put his hands on my shoulders.

"Okay, you are going to do exactly like you saw me do," Edward said. "You'll have to put your hands on his wounds, since this is your first time. Once you get the hang of it, you won't have to do that." I nodded, giving Jake a pitying look as I thought about the pain it would cause him for me to touch his burns. He gave me a tight, understanding smile in return. I looked up at Edward, who had his head slightly tilted to the side in thought. I waited for him to finish with whatever he was doing in his head before I spoke.

"So?" I asked. He blinked and looked down at me. 'What was going on in there?" He smiled at me and shook his head.

"I was thinking of a way we could do this a little less painfully, but still let you get the experience you need," he explained. "I think I might have." I nodded for him to continue.

"Put your hands up and spread your fingers," he said, and I did. He put his hands behind mine and threaded his fingers into the spaces between my own. "Now focus power into your hands. I'm going to help you project it so your power covers the wounds before your hands touch them."

I nodded again and closed my eyes, imagining my hands glowing like Edward's whole body had been when he was healing me. After a few moments, I felt them start to get warmer and warmer. Once they seemed to stay the same, I opened my eyes.

My hands had a soft white glow emanating from them, and Edward's hands were glowing just as brightly. I felt a pulse flow down his arms and into his hands, creating a small shield over my palms.

"Now lower your hands onto his burns," he said. I did so slowly, just in case Edward's idea didn't work as planned. I gently settled one hand on each of his legs and breathed a sigh of relief when Jake didn't make any sounds of pain. I looked behind me at Edward for guidance as to how to continue.

"Feel the power swirling around in your hands?" he asked. I nodded. "Let it funnel out into his legs and focus it on his injuries. Imagine it flowing from you into him, and his burns healing right before your eyes. Healing is all about the desire of the healer and the need of the healed." I nodded again, and did as he asked.

I imagined my hands like fountains, and my power the water flowing out. I imagined it flowing into Jacob's legs and spreading over his burns, the skin turning pink once more and healing up. I kept replaying that image over and over again until the white glow in my hands was gone. I imagined completely healed skin under my hands until the power in Jake was completely absorbed. I felt Edward send a pulse through Jake's body to make sure nothing else as wrong and waited until he was done before I finally lifted my hands.

I gasped in amazement at the presence of tanned skin where there had just been a burned mess. The only signs of what had just been there were the trails of blood from where the skin had cracked open. I looked up at Jacob as I set my hands on my lap, Edward moving his hands to my shoulders. Jake looked just as shocked as I did, slowly trying to move. His muscles responded like there had never been any injury.

"Good job, Bella," Edward said against the top of my head. I moved my hands to cover his on my shoulders and squeezed them, smiling more as he threaded our fingers together. He kissed the top of my head.

"How do your legs feel now?" Carlisle asked Jake, sounding polite and civilized. In response, Jake stood up and walked around the room, not able to take his eyes off his newly healed legs. He suddenly looked at me as I stood up, Edward's hands dropping from my shoulders, and walked quickly over. He threw his arms around me and I hugged him back.

"Thank you, Bella. Thank you so much," he said softly, once again sounding sincere. I smiled.

"You're welcome, Jake." Something suddenly hit me and I pulled back, lifting an eyebrow at him.

"Why were you even at the school? I thought you went to the one on the rez. Isn't it the same here?" I asked, all of those moments before assaulting my mind. What had he been doing at the school in the first place? Why was he acting so weird?

"A little birdie told me you were finally joining the school here in Arcadia. All they were talking about was the Seer finally going to school. It seemed like the whole forest was bustling with the news," he responded. I gave him a blank look.

"I was being serious, Jake," I said, upset. He shook his head.

"I _am_ serious, Bella. When I'm a wolf, I can understand what the other animals are saying," he explained. It was still hard to believe, but I blamed it on the fact that I still hadn't accepted the fact that Jake, my best friend, was a werewolf. I just shook my head and sighed. When I looked at him, that regret and sadness was there again, if only for a fleeting moment. Something was up, but he wasn't going to talk about it.

"Well, then, since you seem fully healed, you are free to leave whenever you please," Carlisle said to Jake. Jake turned to him, a sneer on his face.

"You are saying that like I wasn't free to go before," he said.

"Jake!" I yelled. "Knock it off. Carlisle is only here to help. Besides, with the state you were in, you couldn't have left anyway!" He flinched away from my voice, but his glare didn't lessen.

"I think I'll be on my way," Jake said. He looked at me again. "It really was good to see you again, Bella. Even with the company you keep." He looked at both Edward and Carlisle then, and I looked at Edward to see him glaring back, but it looked more like he was . . . _examining_ Jake. His eyes suddenly widened and he bared his teeth, restraining a hiss in this throat. His wings shot out slightly, just enough to make him look much bigger than he was, and much more threatening.

"I think that would be best," he said through his teeth. Jacob looked shocked and slightly frightened, but only for a moment before he jumped out the small gap in the branches making up the wall of the room. I immediately turned to Edward.

"What was that about?" I asked, putting my hands on my hips. He was still looking after where Jacob had jumped, but he looked at me when I spoke.

"There is something wrong with him, Bella," Edward said, his forehead wrinkled in thought. "After you healed him, I looked to make sure he didn't have anything else going on, but there was something really . . . _wrong_ with him on the inside, like he was _contaminated_." Edward shook his head before looking at me again. "It's dark magic, Bella. Whatever it is, it is evil."

"Is there anything we can do?" I asked, immediately worried. He shook his head.

"Bella . . . I tried. Even after you took your hands away from him, I was directing my energy at . . . whatever it is that's inside him. I hate to say this, but it can't be removed. It feels . . . voluntary. Like he allowed it to happen. I can't tell why, but I know if it had been forced on him, I would have been able to do something, even just contain it within him."

"Edward . . . what does that mean?" I asked, feeling tears prick my eyes as disbelief flooded my body.

"I don't know, Bella, but it's not good," Edward replied, settling his wings against his back again as I reached for him. He wrapped his arms around me and I put my own around his waist. I rested my head against his chest, my heart still trying to deny what my head knew to be true.

"I knew something was wrong, Edward. Sometimes . . . when he talked . . . he sounded like he was lying to me . . . I _knew_ he was lying to me, Edward." Tears streamed down my face as I talked about my friend, my brother. Edward held me for a few moments before I felt Carlisle approach.

"Bella . . . I hate to ask this of you now, but one of my patients took a turn for the worst—"

"Okay, where are they?" I asked, brushing the tears from my face and standing up straight. He gestured for me to follow him and I did, keeping a hold of Edward's hand for support.

Carlisle led us to a room with what looked to be a pixie. I looked inside her and saw the same gossamer-winged being that I had in Alice, a confirmation of my guess. When I looked at her body again, I was shocked. I hadn't realized who it was at first, and now I wished I hadn't

Alice, her designer clothes burned and ripped beyond repair, was lying on the bed.

I ran over to her and dropped to my knees next to the bed, tears streaming down my face again. I felt someone on the other side of the bed, their emotions just as full of sadness and denial as mine were, but I couldn't look away from her face. Her black hair made it hard to tell if it was burned or not, but the smell erased any doubt. It was just slightly shorter than it had been before. Her skin was red, sections either dried out from the intense heat, or burned raw. Her glamour—the magic that let her look like a human—had dropped, showing me what I had seen before using my Sight. Her wings were completely visible, and so was the green tint to her pale skin. Her ears were slightly pointed again. I turned to Carlisle, my question on my face.

"She tried to block the blast from hitting all of you, but her powers couldn't control that fire in time. It hit her before she had full control," he explained, not needing me to ask. I whimpered, thinking about the pain she had to be in. "She was starting to heal, but something went wrong. She lost consciousness and has yet to awaken."

"The magic in the fire might have attached to her as she tried to stop it with her own," Edward explained, kneeling down next to me. He put a finger on a small part of unaffected skin on her arm and closed his eyes, inhaling and exhaling slowly. He quickly drew back, like he was shocked by something.

"It definitely got her, Carlisle. It's wrapped around her heart," Edward said, collapsing on the floor. He rested his forehead against the bed. "Every time her body begins to heal, it poisons the energy so nothing happens except she gets worse. Little by little, it's killing her." A sob ripped itself from my throat, and that of the person on the other side of the bed. I finally looked to see a pixie-sized Jasper sitting on a dresser, his small arms crushing his knees to his chest.

"Oh, Jasper . . ." I whispered. He looked up at me for a moment before burying his face in his knees again. He wasn't crying, but his being a vampire was the only thing preventing the flow of tears. I looked at Edward frantically. He had looked up when I said Jasper's name. His face had gone from defeated to determined as he stood up and offered his hand to me.

"Edward, I . . . I can't. Not with her. I'll mess it up. I can't," I said, shaking my head. He didn't move his hand.

"Then help me," he said, his voice encouraging. "Saving you drained me. If I have someone else to draw from, it should be easier, and hopefully faster." I hesitated for only a moment more, Jasper's sobs spurring me into action. I took Edward's hand and he raised me to my feet. He sat down at Alice's side and placed a hand over her heart, the other on the side of her face. I put my hands on the back of his neck and his bicep, skin to skin.

"You don't have to do anything, Bella. Just let me take what I need. When you feel yourself getting too tired, let go of me. I'll have to get the black magic out of her first, or it'll just reverse any healing we do," Edward explained quickly. I squeezed his arm once to let him know I understood, and he bowed his head.

His whole body began glowing brightly, just like it had done when he saved me. Just like Charlie said, it seemed much easier for him this time than it did before. The energy quickly flowed from him into Alice, spreading over and through her entire body. It suddenly gathered right over her heart, glowing brighter and brighter until I had to turn my head away. Edward started taking a small amount of energy from me as it continued to glow at such a blinding level.

I didn't feel any effects at first, but I slowly felt it taking its toll. Alice suddenly inhaled deeply, and the light dissipated throughout her body again, the flow from me to Edward growing faster. He must have used all of his own energy to dispel the black magic, and was now using mine to heal her. I watched as all of her wounds slowly disappeared before my eyes until she looked like nothing had happened to her, just like with Jacob's legs. Edward slowly took his hands away, sighing in relief. He started falling forward, but I wrapped my arms around him before he fell on Alice.

I sat behind him on the bed, letting him lean back against me, his head falling against mine. He was breathing heavily and his body wasn't nearly as warm from his energy as it had been earlier. I put my hand on the side of his face, keeping it pressed against my own, and kissed the side of his head. I watched as Jasper jumped from the dresser, his body growing to normal size as he touched the ground. He sat on Alice's other side and took her face gently in his hands, lowering his head until their foreheads touched. I heard her sigh and smiled in relief. Her eyes quickly fluttered open and a soft, tired smile lit her strained face.

"Hey, babe. What'd I miss?" she asked, her voice hoarse. Jasper just shook his head and kissed her.

I looked down at Edward and he tilted his head to look at me. He was fighting to stay awake. I lifted one of his arms over my shoulder and wrapped my free arm around his waist. I tried to stand, but my legs wouldn't hold our combined weight, not after what had just happened. Carlisle moved to Edward's other side, taking his weight from me. He gave me a small smile and walked out into the hall, while I followed close behind. Carlisle picked Edward up once we reached our room and placed him in the middle of the bed. He immediately fell asleep and Carlisle turned to me.

"He should sleep for the rest of the day and through the night," he said. I nodded. "Esme brought up some food for you, too. He will probably need to hunt as soon as he wakes up." I nodded again.

"Why didn't he try to heal Alice before this?" I asked, curious.

"He didn't wake up until this morning. He collapsed once he flew you home and set you down. We found him on the floor when we got here with everyone," Carlisle explained.

"There are others who are injured?" I asked, immediately saddened by the thought of so many being injured by something meant for me. Carlisle nodded.

"None are as bad as Alice and Mr. Black. The other pixies and nymphs felt the fire approach and were able to shield themselves and some others from the flames. Not everyone was in attendance today, thankfully." I sighed, walking over and sitting on the edge of the bed. I closed my eyes and rubbed my forehead.

"Get some sleep, Bella. The two of you did much more than you should have today," he said, smiling sympathetically at me. I smiled back and nodded. He walked out, waving his hand over the door of the room and a curtain of vines shielded both the window and the doorway.

I laid down next to Edward and grabbed the comforter from the foot of the bed. He was shaking slightly from the loss of energy and heat, so I made sure to tuck it in around his other side. I laid my head on his chest and draped an arm over his torso, his shaking quickly stopping. I smiled as I joined him in an exhausted slumber.

**A/N: Well, I guess not very many of you liked the last chapter . . . I hope this one satisfies a little more . . .**

**Also, I've already finished Chapter 13 and am working on 14. I think if you give me 10 reviews for this chapter, I'll post the next one the day the number hits 10. I'm not going to hold the chapter for randsom, though. If I don't get the reviews, I'll just update like normal (Thursday or Friday).**

_**~Angels of Twilight**_


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13: Focus**

_Focus on the goal, not the obstacles that stand in the way._

I woke up the next morning and immediately grabbed one of the granola bars sitting on my bedside table. My stomach felt like it was going to rip itself from my body and find food itself if I didn't eat something. Without even realizing it, I had finished three. My stomach settled down, though, so I really didn't care. I looked over my shoulder to see Edward still sleeping peacefully, so I slowly got up and went into the bathroom. I took care of my "needs" and brushed my teeth, my mouth feeling like it was full of sand.

I looked at the shower and didn't even try to figure out how it worked. All I knew was the walls and floor were smooth leaves, and it looked like the water, wherever it came from, fell through tiny gaps the size of a pin. I couldn't see where it went after that, but I was giving myself a headache just trying to imagine where the water came from. I decided it wouldn't hurt to take one, so I shed my . . . less than clean clothes and stepped in. I pulled the only cord in the shower and water slowly dripped from a gap in the ceiling. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it was warm, and made sure to clean myself as quickly as possible so I didn't run out.

I wrapped a white towel around myself and realized I never grabbed clean clothes. I cracked open the door and Edward was still dead to the world, so I tiptoed over to the dresser next to the one I knew Edward's clothes were in. I grabbed a clean bra and underwear, but there were no other clothes. I grabbed another shirt and pair of sweats from Edward's dresser before hurrying back into the bathroom. I quickly got dressed and rubbed a towel over my hair, trying to dry it as much as possible. I brushed a comb through it afterwards, wincing at the amount of knots that had accumulated.

I walked back into the bedroom and stood on the side of the bed, gazing down at Edward's still sleeping form. He wasn't shivering like he had been the night before, but the bruises under his eyes told me just how much of a toll healing Alice had taken on him yesterday. I didn't understand how in the world a vampire could sleep, but I guessed it was because they had an energy source for their non-vampire powers. When that got too low, it was like a human getting tired. That was my guess, anyway.

He sighed and turned his face towards where I had been sleeping, his face wrinkling as he frowned. His arm was flung over the section I had vacated and he seemed to know, even in his sleep, that I wasn't there. This thought made me smile and I crawled back into bed. I laid my head back down on his chest, resting my chin on my arm as I watched him sleep. His frown was now gone, replaced by a peaceful grin as the arm that was lying on the bed rested across my lower back and his hand lightly gripped my hip.

I watched him as he slept, his mouth slightly open and his breath brushing lightly over my face. I started thinking back to what he did yesterday, the power that he held now that he had accepted who he was again. He was able to eradicate pure black magic within Alice's body and save her life. He was able to examine everything that made up a person's body with a small pulse of energy, kind of like how I was able to see what made someone who they were at the deepest level.

I had that power. I had the same power Edward had, but how did I use it?

I looked down at my hand, and focused the smallest bit of energy into it. A small orb glowed in the middle of my hand, and I laid there watching the light ripple as the energy waited for a command. I gently placed my hand palm-down over Edward's heart and watched it empty into him. I made it spread throughout his body, my energy telling me anything I wanted to know. I imagined darkness inside him, but with a curious air, as though I was asking if anything like that was in him. My mind showed me an aerial view of his sleeping form, and his entire body was bathed in a pure white light glowing within him, not a trace of the blackness he had dispelled from Alice. I closed my eyes and rested my head on my arms again, letting my conscious fade from the energy and letting his body use it instead. I sighed and fell into a light doze, instantly waking up again when I felt his hand move from my hip to my hair. I opened my eyes and turned my head to face him, smiling at the tired grin on his face.

"Good morning," I said quietly. His smile grew and he stretched for a few seconds before letting his body relax once more. His arms fell so they were resting on my back and he sighed, looking back at me with black eyes. Small flecks of gold were all that was left, and I looked at him sadly.

"You need to hunt, Edward," I said. He sighed again and nodded once.

"Have you heard how Alice is?" he asked, his voice still full of sleep. I shook my head.

"No one has stopped in yet," I explained. He raised an eyebrow at me.

"Well, why don't you find out?" Now it was my turn to raise an eyebrow, and he chuckled. "I can read minds, Bella, and so can you." I thought back to Edward's flashback during his breakdown, how I could see exactly what he was remembering as though it were my own memory. He saw the shock and understanding on my face and tilted his head.

"I . . . I think I read your mind . . . when you were remembering what happened at the school. I saw you keep replaying what happened, and I felt everything you did, both in the memory and out," I explained, raising my head off my arms. Edward stared at me in amazement for a few seconds before smiling again.

"That's both my power and Jasper's together," he said, his voice and emotions betraying his awe. I just shrugged, taking his word for it. He laughed and shook his head.

"First I can't read your mind because of your shield, and now you use my own power against me . . . You do not play fair, Ms. Swan." He wrapped an arm around me and used the other to scoot himself farther up the bed so he was sitting up and resting against the trunk of our tree-bed.

"What are you talking about? I don't have a shield," I said, my voice tapering off as I realized I very well could and not even know it. I did take the fact that he couldn't read my mind as a relief, though. Even I never knew what was going to happen next up there . . .

"Ever since the first day all of us met you, I haven't been able to hear a single thought from your head. I told the others about it, and we think you have a mental shield around your mind that protects you form being affected by the powers of others. Jasper can still influence your emotions and Alice can still see your future, but I can't read your mind. I think, if we got you to practice with that shied enough, that you could probably use it to protect others, as well," Edward explained. I just stared at him, unable to think of anything to say. Edward smiled understandingly.

"Focus on Alice, Bella. Picture her in your mind." I did as he said, picturing the Alice before the explosion. Her hair was still black and spiky, her skin tinted green, and her wings tinted different colors. "Now, focus on her mind. Desire to know what she is thinking, and let your power do the rest."

I followed is instructions, and was quickly bombarded with thoughts. I kept focusing on Alice's, though, quickly realizing that I was hearing everyone in the house, many of whom I didn't know. The voices slowly faded until only one remained, a slightly high-pitched one that I easily recognized as Alice's. She was thinking so rapidly, jumping from one thing to another, that it was impossible to figure out what she was thinking at all. I quickly stopped focusing on her thoughts and was immediately assaulted again by the various minds residing in the house. I clamped my hands over my ears, desperately trying to block the voices. I bit into my lip from the pain, immediately feeling a small drop of blood run down to my chin. I tried with everything I had not to cry out, but I knew I was at least whimpering. I felt hands cover my own, and Edward's voice rang through my head, the others lessening until they were just background noise.

"Tune them out, Bella. Ignore them and only listen to me, okay?" his voice said. I could tell he was worried, and I tried to nod, only getting a spazzy little shake for my effort.

I focused on Edward's voice, just like he told me, and paid no attention to the others. They slowly faded away, and I allowed myself to take a tiny bit of focus off of him for a moment. I could hear them in the back of my mind, but as long as I didn't want to hear them, it seemed like that was where they would stay. I felt Edward hesitantly take his hands off of mine, moving them to my biceps where he rubbed soothing circles into my skin with his thumbs.

I slowly took my hands away from my ears and opened my eyes, looking straight into Edward's now pure black ones. I froze as his breath rushed over my face. He was breathing heavily and was staring at my mouth . . . _at the drop of blood from me biting my lip_ . . . I quickly went to wipe it away, but he caught my wrist before I could. He leaned forward slowly and put his free hand on the back of my neck so I couldn't go anywhere. My breaths turned shallow as he continued getting closer and closer until one tiny movement would have touched my bleeding lip to his mouth.

"Edward," I whispered, trying to turn my head away. His grip tightened just enough so it wouldn't, and, to my utter shock, he pressed his lips to the small drop of blood on my chin.

His whole body tensed before he slowly brought his lips up to mine, his lower lip dragging along the path of the blood drop. I felt him move his hands to the side of my face, holding me more gently than I thought he could in his present state of mind. I could taste the iron tang of my blood on his lip as he slowly kissed me, and something strange happened as I began returning the affection . . .

Suddenly, my mind was filled with the image of Edward's core, just like I had seen it the first time. The angel still had his wings wrapped around himself like a shield, and his knees were drawn up to his chest with his head resting on them. But, right before my eyes, he slowly stretched his wings out to either side of him and stood. His body was just a glowing, human-shaped form with no details, but as he stared straight ahead, I knew he was looking right at me. A second figure suddenly appeared and walked right up to him, running her fingers over his feathers as she did so. He turned his head towards the female figure, wrapping an arm around her waist as she stood in front of him, both of them turning back to me. He bent his wings around the two of them and rested his chin on her shoulder, the line distinguishing her body from his disappearing until they were one.

_Mine._

The scene abruptly disappeared when Edward's lips left mine, and I desperately tried to bring it back, but it was too late. Instead, I was met with the intent, adoring gaze of the real Edward. His eyes were still black, but they were not the menacing pair of bloodlust-filled orbs that I had expected to see. His hands had also dropped to my waist, in no way holding me where I was besides with their presence. Instead, there was a peace in him, like he had finally reached the goal that had seemed so unattainable before, but there was something I needed him to know . . .

"Edward Cullen, you scared the freaking _CRAP_ out of me!" I yelled, poking his chest hard. It did more harm than good, though, a sharp pain shooting up my finger. He chuckled and gently took my hand in his, healing my finger in a second.

"I'm sorry, Bella. It was just . . .," he paused, looking extremely uncomfortable and guilty before continuing, "Your blood . . . it _calls_ to me. I couldn't . . . I wanted to . . ." He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair, completely at a loss for words. "When I tasted . . . your blood," he choked out, "I instantly remembered who you are . . . who you are to _me_ . . . and I was able to control myself. I was able to take myself away from your blood, and be with you, instead of being controlled by your blood." He brushed his thumb from my lip down to my chin, wiping away the remnants of my blood. I smiled and held his hand to the side of my face.

"You made a realization during all of this, didn't you?" I asked, turning my head and kissing his palm. He tensed for a moment, before his body relaxed under mine again.

"Besides the fact that you are the essence of my control? It sounds like you may have witnessed my second epiphany," he answered, a contented smirk on his face when I turned back to face him.

"I may have seen something, but why don't you tell me what I saw?" I said, putting his hand down on the bed and moving to sit in his lap. I rested my head against his shoulder and he draped his arms around my waist. He sighed before he responded, his breath teasing my hair.

"I was always told as an angel to focus on the goal, not the steps needed to get there. As long as the charge survived until their predestined death, the goal was met. What needed to be changed along the way, what needed to happen with or without help, the ends justified the means." He sighed again. "Love was never really an option. Destiny never allowed for the guardian to fall for the charge . . . or so I thought." I felt his gaze on the top of my head and looked up.

"It's too late to turn back now, though. I don't want to anyway. I love my charge, and I can only hope that she feels the same," he finished, looking down at me with his love plainly on his face. I put my arm on his shoulder and looked at him.

"You use too many words, Edward. I won't use any at all," I said, before quickly leaning up and pressing my lips to his. I pulled away after a few seconds, and smiled at the shock on his face. "And just in case you need me to clarify, I love you too, Edward." I pressed my lips to his again, and he responded this time, telling me what he tried to in words.

He loved me. He loved me with everything he was. What I witnessed in his core was Edward finding his soul mate, the person who completed what was already there. And it was me.

We kissed for a while longer, never going any farther than that. We were reveling in the company of the other, the other half of our souls. I felt complete now, like nothing could stop me. Something did stop us though, but it was more like some_one_.

"_OH MY GOD_!" Alice's voice screeched from the doorway. We broke away and turned to see her standing just inside our room, like she had come running in and stopped in her tracks when she saw us. "_I can't BELIEVE you two! I almost DIE and you two decide to make out without even coming to check up on me? Perfect_ time to realize the love, guys," she said, her voice getting lower as she finished her rant. She crossed her arms over her chest and huffed loudly.

"Oh, Alice," I said, getting up from Edward's lap, "don't be like that! You know we love you too, Allie." I wrapped my arms around her from the side, even with her arms still crossed, and Edward hugged her from her other side. She only held out for a few more seconds before she broke and hugged us both back.

"Aww, guys . . . I can't stay mad at you, not after what you did for me! You saved my life!" she cried.

"You're welcome, Alice," Edward said with a smile on his face. I smiled at him over Alice's head before squishing her as hard as I could, but only for a few seconds before my arms started hurting.

"Can I join the fun?" someone said from behind us. Edward and I looked to see Jasper standing there with the biggest smile I had ever seen on him plastered on his face. I nodded and we opened our arms for him to join us, but he shook his head. "I was only kidding." I smirked at him and let go of Alice, charging at Jasper and trapping his arms at his sides with my own. Alice quickly joined me, resting her head on Jasper's chest, with Edward following, hugging Jasper from his other side.

"Okay, okay . . . Umm . . . are we done?" he asked, fidgeting. All of us laughed and Edward and I let him go. He took his arms out of Alice's grasp and returned her embrace, dropping one arm and looking at us after a moment. His eyes said it all, even if he couldn't. I smiled in understanding, reassuring him that it was okay. He smiled in relief and took Alice out; she still hadn't taken her face out of his chest, and now her legs were wrapped around his waist. I laughed and shook my head, walking over to Edward's side. I looked up at him and saw tension in his face. It was very little, but I was able to pick it out.

"Go hunt, Edward," I whispered. "I'm not going anywhere." He nodded and kissed me briefly before walking to the window and jumping out. I sighed and headed into the hall, where Carlisle was walking towards another room. He looked up and smiled gently at me.

"Carlisle, I want to help more. These people were hurt because of me, and I think I owe it to them to ease at least some of their pain," I said quietly. His smile changed to one of understanding and he nodded once. He jerked his head and started walking farther down the hall, and I followed, determined to help in any way I could.


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14: A Dangerous Encounter**

The room Carlisle led me to had five people laying down on various couches and bed. I didn't know any of them, thankfully, and they looked like they only had minor injuries. Most of the wounds were burns, scrapes, and scratches, nothing as bad as Jake's or Alice's. I looked at Carlisle.

"This is one of the rooms for the more mild injuries. They won't take nearly as long or as much energy to heal, so you should be able to heal more of them," he explained. I nodded once and looked at the people in the room again, starting on one side and going to the other.

I could tell one of them was a pixie; she looked a lot like Alice, except her skin was tinted blue. Another had wings like the pixie, but she was much taller; I guessed she was a fairy. Two guys sitting on the couches looked perfectly normal, but a peak into their cores showed me something similar to Emmett's. So they were shape-shifters, and the last was . . . well, she looked like a white witch, but I couldn't be sure. I had never seen the core of one before, but hers looked like a bunch of shining orbs that would fade to grey and then go right back to pure white.

"So you're the Seer, huh?" the witch asked. I smiled sadly and nodded.

"I can't apologize enough about what happened. I don't like people getting hurt because of me," I said, looking at the floor.

"It's not your fault." I looked up to see one of the shape-shifters talking to me. He had jet black hair that had hints of dark blue when the sun hit it, like a raven's feathers. "Whoever is after you did it in a public place. They seem to be getting desperate or impatient, if they're willing to be that careless." I gave him a small, thankful smile, and he smiled back.

"So, who's first?" I asked. No one said anything, just simultaneously shrugged, so I started on the left side of the room.

The pixie with blue-tinted skin—her name was Sapphire, ironically enough—told me what she could remember during the blast to help me focus my energy. She had a small fracture in her arm from being blasted through a doorway, her arm hitting the doorframe as she flew. She had small burns on her forearms and a scrape on one leg, but that was it. I quickly healed her arms before focusing a small amount on her leg to finish.

The fairy, Willow, only had a small burn on her legs, and she told me it was because she put up her shield a second too late. The blast brushed her legs before her shield was fully up. The two boys, Sam and Dean, were the same; only some cuts and scrapes from being blown back. They had been about to walk inside when it happened. They also told me they were identical twins, except for their hair; where Sam's was black, Dean's was a dark brown. I healed all three of them with very little energy and squatted in front of the witch.

"So, you're next," I said. I didn't see anything on her arms and legs, and looked up at her face for some guidance. What I saw was nowhere what I had expected, especially since I had expected to see the girl from when I had walked in.

A face scarily similar to my own looked back at me, small differences telling there was no mirror in front of my shocked face. Her hair was a shade or two lighter than mine, and her face was more rounded. She looked to be my height, and she was definitely my small build, but her eyes were the biggest—and most terrifying—difference between us. Where mine were dark brown, hers were completely black. The only color in them was the red that flashed at me every now and then; even the whites of her eyes were pure black. I tried to move away, but my body was completely frozen; nothing would move.

"I have a me_ssss_age for you, _I_sssss_abella_," a serpent-like voice said from her mouth, drawing out the _s_'s in a hiss. "I am coming for you, little girl, and I don't have to get in your pretty _ssss_anctuary to get you. All I would have to i_sssss_ u_sssss_e one of the_ssss_e little doll_ssss_ to get to you. That broken angel of your_ssss_ won't always be there to protect you," the voice finished, quickly fading at the end. I felt a small tingle through my body, but it quickly disappeared.

"Look around you, _child_. My puppet_ssss_ are all around you, and you didn't even noti_cccc_e." I tried, but I couldn't take my eyes off her.

"It'_ssss_ too bad I cannot kill you from in_ssss_ide another, or I could have had you dead when you walked through the door." The voice suddenly stopped, and the girl's face and body changed back to exactly how she had looked the first time I had seen her. She slumped forward and fell off the bed she had been sitting on, landing in my arms as I lunged to catch her. Footsteps thundered through the house as people approached, and Edward appeared through the window.

"Bella!" he cried, landing on his knees next to me. I laid the girl gently down on the floor and looked at him.

"The sorcerer . . ." I started, but I had no idea what to say next.

Edward only nodded and put his hand in the middle of her chest, the other on her forehead. He released a huge pulse of energy into her body, focusing it on her heart and head. I put my hands over his and released my own, immediately feeling the drain. The focus points reached that blindingly bright glow again, and I watched as the darkness around her heart and in her mind was blown to bits, not a shadow left when the energy dissipated. I stood, having to take a quick step back to catch my balance. Edward stood and set the girl in the middle of the bed before turning to me and wrapping his arms tightly around my shoulders.

"She should be okay, but we'll have to watch her after a possession like that," he said into my hair. "Bella . . . what happened?" he whispered, only pulling away enough to see my face. I told him what happened, starting from when I walked through the door to right before he flew in, and his eyes continued to grow wider and wider until I felt like I should be prepared to catch them. When I was finished, he crushed me to his chest again and buried his face in my hair. I rested my forehead on his shoulder, holding back sobs of fear and desperation.

"I can't do this anymore, Edward. My dad died because of her, and all these people were hurt. She took over that girl's _body_ just to get to me," I said, sobs forcing their way out. He just held me for a few more moments before leaning back and rubbing my arms reassuringly. A thought suddenly hit me and I looked at Edward.

"Train me," I said, no sound of a sob in my voice. He looked at me, shocked, but I kept talking before he could say anything against me.

"I want to go after her, Edward. I can't let people keep getting hurt because she wants me dead. I want all of you to train me with your powers. I need to know how to use them if I want to stand a chance against her," I explained in a rush, before he could interrupt. Many emotions were battling in his eyes, but indecision and worry looked like they were winning out. His eyes became unfocused as he thought, and he was quiet for a few moments before finally saying something.

"If I say no, that it's too dangerous, are you just going to try on your own?" he asked, seeming to read my mind even though I knew he couldn't. I nodded once, my face serious and decided. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, his other staying on my hip.

"Fine. I don't like it, but if you're going to be stubborn about it, then I'll do it. I want you to be as prepared as possible. I know she won't leave you alone after what she just pulled. I'll ask the others—" he stopped, turning his head slightly, and gave me a small smile. "Never mind, they all agree. We can start once we get most of these people healed or comfortable." I nodded and hugged him and he sighed again, resting his chin on top of my head.

"I want to help," someone said. I pulled away from Edward and we turned around to see Sam staring intently at us. "I want to help you," he repeated. Dean nodded his head, but still didn't speak.

"Me too," Sapphire said, standing up from the bed she was on. Willow did the same, nodding and smiling brightly. I looked around at all of them, surprised they were willing to help and scared to get them involved in any way.

_But I guess they already are_, I thought to myself.

I smiled at all of them and looked up at Edward to see what he thought. He smiled at me and shrugged, leaving it up to me. I nodded my head frantically.

"Okay . . . Thank you," I said quietly, still unable to believe they were willing to help after what had already happened. Edward cleared his throat and I looked at him.

"Oh! Everyone, this is Edward. Edward, meet Sapphire, Willow, Sam, and Dean. Sapphire is a pixie, Willow is a fairy, and Sam and Dean are shape-shifters," I said, pointing to each of them in turn. Edward nodded to each of them as I said their names and they smiled at him, slightly hesitant.

"You know what all of us are, and we know what Bella is, so what are you?" Dean asked, putting on a brave face as he blatantly asked Edward his question. Edward tilted his head to the side and gave him a smirk, but he didn't say anything. I could see all of them, especially the boys, getting nervous, and I slapped Edward's chest lightly.

"Don't be mean, Edward. After what happened, he has every right to be wary," I said. Edward sighed after a moment and looked at me guiltily.

"Fine," he said, like a disciplined child, and spread his wings. All of them gasped and took a step back before they realized what they were seeing. They simultaneously took a step forward, their eyes glued to the glistening white feathers, but none of them said anything until Sam finally broke the silence.

"Dude, you're dating a _bird_?" he exclaimed, pointing at Edward and looking at me. I burst out laughing and backed into a chair, my arms wrapped around my stomach as I tried to hold myself together. I could feel Edward glaring at me, but I just couldn't stop. After a few minutes of me laughing, Edward glaring with his arms crossed over his chest and the others glancing around wondering what's so funny, I was finally able to control my laughter enough to explain.

"He's . . . he's not a _bird_," I said, trying to contain my laughter so I could finish, "He's an _angel_." I took deep breaths as the others resumed their staring at Edward, making him shift uncomfortably and his wings twitch. I slouched against the back of the chair once I finally caught my breath and looked at Edward with a small smile on my face.

"Sorry, but you have to admit, that was pretty funny," I said, shrugging and putting the best look of innocence I had on my face. He continued to glare at me for a few more moments before he sighed and let his arms fall to his sides, his head falling in embarrassment. I stood up and wrapped my arms around him, trapping his arms in my grip.

"Aww, it's okay, Tweety. I won't feel any different about you, even if you grow a beak," I said, resting my head on Edward's bicep. He glared before he let his head fall even farther onto his chest and sighed even louder. The others laughed again and Edward looked at me, his face humiliated, but his eyes bright. I squeezed him one more time before letting go and turning to the others.

"He's my guardian angel," I said. They nodded, still looking completely confused, but taking the information in stride.

"I was turned into a vampire when I tried to save one of my charges from a group of them," Edward finished for me. They nodded, looking slightly less confused than they did.

"Okay, I am asking no more questions. The more answers I get, the more questions pop up," Sam said, putting his head in his hands and rubbing his temples. I laughed and nodded.

"Yeah, this might be one of those I-don't-want-to-know moments," I said, understanding how he was feeling. Edward sat down on the bed next to the sleeping witch, tucking his wings in slightly in the process, and put a hand on her forehead. His hand glowed for a moment as he examined her, and he took it away only a minute later with a sad smile on his face.

"There's no trace of the dark magic in her, but it took its toll. She'll wake up, but it won't be for a while," he said, taking a few steps until he was standing next to me. I sighed in relief and looked at the others, who looked like they were waiting for me to tell them what to do next.

"If you want, you can go explore the house and find the room you'll be staying in while you're here. Edward and I are going to check on the other patients and help who we can. We probably won't do any kind of training until tomorrow morning, so all of us are at full strength," I said. They nodded.

"Does it matter what room we take?" Willow asked. I shook my head.

"Many of them are uninhabited. If it looks like someone is using it, then try another. Most of the ones being used are on this floor and the first floor, so if you go one more floor up, all of them should be available as far as I know," Edward said, pointing down the hall where another staircase could barely be seen, blending in with the leaves and branches around it. I had yet to even go up there, but it didn't matter. I was happy with my room and its co-inhabitant.

They all went to the stairs and we headed in the opposite direction, walking slowly down the hall to where I could feel more pain and hurt. I didn't know if I liked Jasper's power all that much, but it was coming in handy. I wrapped my arm around Edward's waist as we walked, and he draped his around my shoulders, taking a few more seconds of happiness before we walked into another room full of people who needed us.

"Okay, Bella, who's power would you like to practice with first?" Carlisle said, standing with his hands behind his back. I was standing next to him with a line of people who had been willing to help me control my new powers, powers I had actually gotten from them.

There were sprites, nymphs, fairies, and pixies from every element, shape-shifters, elves, a couple of werebeasts (I had yet to learn what they could turn into, but with the shape-shifter power, it didn't really matter. They offered to let me spar with them), a troll, a witch and warlock, and elemental spirits. Basically, there was at least one of almost every species of creature that lived in Arcadia and had a human disguise. Centaurs (half-human, half horse), Minotaurs (bull-like creatures that walk on two legs), unicorns, Pegasus, fawns (basically, people with goat or deer feet), and other creatures like that could only stay in their one form, so none of them had been at the school for me to absorb any kind of ability they had. Centaurs and Minotaurs had their own schools, so almost none went to ours. Edward was there as well, with his ability to control energy and everything that made up nature, along with the healing. He said as long as I had no trouble controlling the elements, energy would be easy; it was basically the same thing, except it's the essence of the element instead of the element itself. I would be able to change things into different forms within the boundary of the element, while controlling just the element itself only let me move it around, like flinging water, summoning fire, stirring up a wind, or something along those lines.

"_The thing about all of these powers, Bella, is they all need one thing: desire. As long as you know exactly what you want to happen and have the energy to do it, it's as easy as that. Once you practice and use your abilities enough, the desire will become like second nature. You won't even have to think about it anymore, it'll just happen."_

Edward made it sound so simple when he explained it before. He eased some of my worry, but not enough to make it completely go away. I could feel my heart beating faster as I stood there trying to make this decision.

"I truly don't know," I said, shaking my head. "I want to start out with a simple power, one where I won't hurt anyone if I suddenly lose control. I want to work my way up to the more complicated things, like controlling elements and magic. Should I start with shape-shifting then?" I asked him, looking at him instead of the crowd before me. He shrugged and nodded.

Emmett, Rosalie, Sam, Dean, and the two werebeasts, Vixen and Honey, walked forward and stood in front of me. I watched as Sam and Dean glanced at Emmett with wide eyes before looking at the two girls next to them and smirking. I slowly focused on their minds, wanting to see what they were thinking, especially when both girls smiled back innocently. I think I was the only one that saw the mischievous glint that flashed in their eyes. Emmett's voice stopped me before I could, though, but I had a good idea what was going on.

"Okay, Bells, it's really simple. All you have to do is imagine in your mind your body changing into a certain animals, and focus on that outcome. This can only go wrong if you stop focusing on that animal. You could do a partial transformation, which isn't as painful as you might think. It's much more embarrassing than anything else," he said, looking up and away like he was remembering something.

"And yes, he is speaking from experience," Rosalie said, confirming my thoughts. He was remembering when it happened to him.

"So, what do you want to turn into?" Emmett asked. I thought about it for a moment before closing my eyes.

I imagined myself in my mind, my body slowly shrinking until I was only about two feet long and less than a foot off the ground. I pictured short, thin legs with long, sharp talons, and a small beak. A top layer of dark brown feathers erupted from the crown of my head to the tops of my thighs, longer feathers coming from my tailbone. White speckled feathers covered the front of my little bird body, but my neck was just plain white. The speckled feathers also grew out of my arms, but these were long, like my tail feathers. The top feathers of my wings were the same brown as my back, and the underside was the same as my belly. I thought about that end result, a little peregrine falcon standing where my human body once had, and opened my eyes.

Everything around me was much sharper than it had been, and much taller, too. I looked up at Emmett and the others, and they looked like giants. I tried to take a step and almost fell over, spreading my arms to catch my balance again.

"Look at yourself, Bella," Emmett said, his loud voice making my head ring. I shook my head to clear it and did as he said, looking down at my feet.

My imbalance suddenly made sense as I realized that I wasn't human Bella anymore, but the little falcon I had imagined myself becoming. I spread my wings and mentally smiled, since a beak wouldn't let me, and found Edward standing behind me, a big smile on his face as he looked down at me. He kneeled down and held out his hand to me.

"Jump up," he said, turning his hand on its side. I hopped closer, smiling to myself again when I stayed steady, and spread my wings, using them to help me jump high enough to land on his hand. He caught me when I started falling forward, and kept his hand on my back when he stood up again.

"Hold on," Edward said, confusing me. I turned my head at him and he smiled. "Trust me?" he asked. I bowed my head and raised it in a nod. "Then hang on."

He put me against his chest and used his other hand to hold me there, his hand covering my little body. I tightened my hold on his fingers, my talons doing nothing to him with his vampire skin. He suddenly spread his wings to their full length, making everyone gasp. I did a little bird huff, fluffing out my feathers, and he laughed out loud, crouching down and pushing off the ground as he did. I felt the muscles in his chest move with the beat of his wings as he rose steadily higher into the air. I wiggled my wings out from next to my body and spread them, feeling absolutely euphoric as the wind caressed my feathers. It suddenly stopped, though, when Edward stayed in one spot and took his hand away, freeing me from his hold. He slowly moved me away from his chest and I kept my wings spread to help me balance.

"Just flap those little wings and tilt your wings to change direction," Edward said. I "nodded" my head again and he suddenly dropped his hand and tossed me away.

I fell a few feet before I was able to flap my wings, my light body making it easier to keep aloft than if I had chosen a heavier bird. I flew in the direction I was facing for a minute before I tried turning. I leaned to the left slightly, and would have yelled in joy as I turned back around, now facing Edward and his huge grin. I shot at him, making my body streamline as I felt my speed increase with each flap. I turned to my right at the last moment and went right over his shoulder, the tip of my wing brushing against his face. I felt his joy increase as determination flooded him, and I turned enough to see him flying after me, him just as fast as I was. He quickly caught me, grabbing my body so he didn't hurt my wings, and brought us back down to the others.

"I think you got the hang of that one," he said, happiness dripping from his voice. I fluffed my feathers again and everyone laughed, the sudden noise scaring me. I fell off Edward's hand and he quickly caught me, my body sitting in his cupped hands. "Why don't you change back so you can move on to the next?" I sighed and slouched in his hands, making him chuckle, but jumped down. I spread my wings to slow my fall and _almost_ made a graceful landing. I quickly reversed the images I had used to change into a falcon and was in my human form again in a minute.

"So, what's next?" Edward asked, wrapping an arm around my waist and kissing my temple. I looked around the group that didn't look any smaller and sighed.

This was going to be a long day . . .

**A/N: Well, I have to say, I'm really disappointed with the number of reviews for the last few chapters . . . I'm not going to hold chapters captive for reviews, but I know for a fact it is easier and more enjoyable to write them when I know people are reading . . . I'm not going to beg, but it would be nice to get . . . at least 5, with the number of people visiting this story every time I post.**

**And by the way, chapter 15 is almost done and I only see the epilogue left after that, maybe a 16****th****, depending on how long I decide to make 15. If you want a really long chapter, which would mean no cliff hangers, let me know!**

_**~Angels of Twilight**_


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15: Visions**

The next day, I was sitting on our bed with the little leather-bound book sitting in my lap, flipping the pages every now and then with my just-discovered-yesterday telepathy. I was trying to find anything that could tell me more about myself, but I hadn't realized how many different species of beings lived in Arcadia. There was a whole chapter-like section dedicated to each one, but I didn't find anything on Seers just yet. It did, though, give me an idea of just how many powers I had yet to receive, and god was it a lot. I was so engrossed in what I was reading that I never heard Edward walk in. He sat down next to me, wrapping an arm loosely around my waist and flicking his wings out to make himself more comfortable.

"What are you reading, Bella?" he asked, resting his chin on my shoulder and lacing his fingers with mine. I turned my head and kissed his cheek briefly before turning back to the small book.

"Just seeing if there was anything about me in here," I said, sighing. I flipped the page without separating our hands, and flipped it again when I still didn't find what I was looking for. I continued turning the pages until Edward's hand shot out and landed on the book, keeping me from turning anymore.

"Look at this, love," Edward said, making my heart skip a beat. He chuckled at that, but pointed at a section towards the bottom of one of the pages. It continued onto the next page, and I read it over and over again:

_The Seer is an immortal being, one that ages just like a human until the age of eighteen, but can be killed by a fatal injury. Disease cannot affect the Seer . . . _it said. My heart beat faster and faster as I continued reading.

_The Seers are the ultimate being in Arcadia, supreme over all others in the fact that they will acquire the powers of anyone they come across, whether they are good or evil. These beings exist to protect the other creatures of our beautiful world, and will continue to exist as long as there is a being of Light that needs protection . . ._ I looked over at Edward, who glanced at me before continuing down the page. I did the same, finally getting the answers I had been unconsciously searching for.

_The most powerful Seer will be one the likes of which our world has yet to see, a Queen to our people, the ruler of all, but one with a kind heart, fair judgment, and a sound mind. Her powers will be much stronger and much easier to control, and she will need them to defeat a darkness just as powerful as she is. This being will be her exact opposite, darkness where she is light, her doppelganger. The only way to defeat the Dark One will be to join the essence of all of the powers she has obtained and use them to counter the black magic of the Dark One. As long as the Seer fights alone, there will be no hope of victory or survival. The Dark One and her puppets will prevail, destroying everything Arcadia has become . . ._

I couldn't read anymore. I slammed the book shut, my fingers squeezing Edward's as hard as I could. He tightened his arms around me, trying to comfort me in some way, but no one could relax me after what I had just read. Edward gently took one of his hands from mine, picking up the book and moving it to the bedside table. He then gathered me in his arms, placing me in his lap with his arms wrapped protectively around me. I buried my face in his shirt, grabbing it in my fists as tears of frustration, anger, desperation, and hopelessness poured down my face.

It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. I was only eighteen, for God's sake, and the fate of the world was on my shoulders! I could barely get a handle on the infinite number of powers I had, and now I had to somehow harness all of them at once in order to defeat the one person that wanted me dead. And, as far as I could tell, there was no guarantee I would survive, even if I succeeded! Edward and I just started progressing in our relationship, and now I was about to face a fight for not only my own life, but every life in all of Arcadia! _And_, just to make things even more _stressful_, I was supposed to be the freaking _Queen_!

Edward let me bawl into his shirt for I don't know how long, his fingers running through my hair the whole time, but my tears finally dried up and I sighed loudly. I leaned back before resting my head against his shoulder, keeping my now hot eyes closed for a moment until I felt Edward's cold lips touch my forehead. He leaned back and I opened my eyes to find him staring down at me, love, dedication, and devotion flooding into me from those golden orbs. I raised a hand to the side of his face and kissed his jaw, trying to pass those same messages back to him. He smiled, letting me know I succeeded.

"I will always be here, Bella. Whenever you need me, you will never have to look far. I love you, Bella, and because I love you, we are in this together. You do not have to face all of this alone," he said, taking my face in his hands. I felt tears stinging my eyes again and shook my head.

"Thank you, Edward. I love you too," I managed to say before his lips cut me off.

He kissed me fiercely, passionately, like it could be the last time we would ever be together again. In truth, he was right. There was no guarantee of who would survive our upcoming battle, or if any of us would. So I kissed him back with everything I had in me as his hands slid up and down my sides. I raked my fingers along his scalp and he moaned into my mouth, flipping us over so he was hovering over me. I gave him my sadness and desperation, my love and growing hope that maybe, just maybe, whoever was up there in Heaven or whatever it was called would spare us, let us explore the love we had only just discovered. But for now, I figured both of us were content to just explore each other, to connect in the most intimate way just once before our possible end.

I woke with a start when Edward tensed under me. I was lying on his chest with my head over his heart, the erratic beating possibly helping to wake me up. I lifted my head and looked up at him to see his eyes staring blankly over my shoulder. I immediately opened my mind to him, seeing what he was seeing.

_A shadowy lone figure walked slowly out of the surrounding trees, darkness flowing around her like a cloak. All of us were standing in a line, ready to fight, but were surprised that it was just her. After a few seconds, another figure appeared, just as shadowed as the first, and it had glowing red eyes. Another appeared on her other side, followed by another and another, all with those same menacingly red eyes. Not a minute later, the forest seemed to glow with the scarlet of their eyes, all of their figures hidden, but I could feel that they were not all the same. Many of them reeked of hopelessness, like they were being forced to do what they were doing. The same feeling came from the second figure, the one on her right side. His red eyes bore straight into mine, seeming to plead for assistance._

"_You will not win this fight, Isabella," she said. She raised a shadow-cloaked hand to chest level, waited a second, and flicked out her index finger, her minions launching at us while we rushed at them . . ._

The vision ended right before our two sides clashed, but another started right after, this one much more disturbing than the first.

_I fell to the ground with a sickening crack as I landed on my broken arm. I gasped in pain, unable to make a sound because it hurt so much. I laid there holding my arm as someone's shadow looked over me. I glared up at them, but my eyes were full of pain and a slowly diminishing feeling of determination. My pain was eating away at it, and I knew it was over. I couldn't fight in my condition, not anymore. I could see the rest of my body covered in blackened gashes, my clothes ripped to shreds where she had slashed me. She lifted my face with the tip of a long, thin, elegantly curved blade that dripped with my blood and the Darkness that she had used to create it._

"_I told you I would win, Isabella. And when I kill you, all of those powers will be mine. This whole world will be mine, and there will be no one who can stop me," she said with a victorious grin, sliding the blade from my chin to my neck. One small movement was all it would take to put it straight through my neck, killing me immediately. Her head shot up, her eyes looking away, but I couldn't muster the strength to get away. She smiled again, this one even bigger than the other._

"_It seems like you will have company in death, my dear. Edward has decided to join you. How lucky for you." My eyes widened and she thrust her blade into my neck, a sickening smile on her delighted face._

I gasped, feeling a ghost of the pain I would have from my death, and Edward crushed me to his chest. Tears were streaming down my face as I stared at him, millions of images of his death flashing before my eyes, each one worse than the one before. He read my thoughts, worry flashing across his face.

"It will not happen, Bella. She was just messing with you. She wanted to see you defeated in every way possible before she . . . finished," he said, trying to calm me. I wanted desperately to believe him, but a small part of me knew he was telling me what I wanted to believe.

"Remember, Bella, things cans still change. Nothing is set in stone," Alice's voice said sadly from the doorway. She looked like she wanted to cry, but hope glowed from her eyes. She and Edward suddenly jumped in surprise, both of their heads turning towards the window. I felt what they did after a second, and grabbed Edward's shirt from the end of the bed. I threw it on, glad it reached to mid thigh, and threw Edward his boxers and pants. I walked slowly to the window, mentally getting a pair of sweats from Edward's drawer and underwear from mine and putting them on. I was afraid of what I would find outside, but was absolutely appalled beyond anything I could imagine at what was actually there. I gasped loudly, my hands flying to my mouth, and Edward was immediately at my side, his body tensing against my back.

"Charlie . . ."

**A/N: So, since only two people answered my question, with one saying a long chapter and the other saying a short one with a cliffhanger, I have decided to split this chapter into 2, and possibly split the battle scene. It will be much more exciting with all of the cliffhangers, I think. I have the rest of this chapter written up already, so if you give me . . . 7 reviews, I will update the next section early. :]**

**Also, if any of you were reading Infectious, the new version is up and now under that name and the Twilight section. I don't expect very many reviews for the first 4 chapters, since they are the same as the originals except they are in Edward's POV and Bella is no longer there, but I have yet to get even 1 . . .**

**Also again, I have a fun little poll on my profile. You can vote for your favorite story of mine, completed or in progress!**

_**~Angels of Twilight**_


	16. Chapter 16

***Warning, this gets slightly graphic. There will be a *** where it is. It's not terrible, but some of you may want to skip that paragraph.***

**Chapter 16: Charlie**

I stared down at him from the window, my eyes widening even more as a shadow shifted over his pale form. His eyes were bright red, the same red from Alice's vision, and he had an evil grin on his face. I had no idea what was going on, but I knew with every fiber of my being that that was not Charlie. The gaping hole in his chest surrounded by black scorch marks was a good hint.

"She . . . she . . . _reanimated_ him . . ." Edward whispered, shocked. I turned to him abruptly.

"Wha- . . . what?" I said, not even able to ask a full question. Edward put his hands on my shoulders, his grip tight with anxiety.

"She . . . she's using his body . . . as a tool. She filled it with black magic . . . and now it can do anything she wants, or anything _it_ wants until she gives an order," he explained, unable to bring his eyes from Charlie's form.

"How was it able to get in here?" I asked hesitantly, afraid of the answer. Edward shook his head.

"It has all of Charlie's memories. Anyone who sincerely means no harm can enter through Esme's barrier, and she must have told it to use a memory of Charlie's to make it feel a certain emotion that would deceive the barrier. She got in through that girl, as well, since she was not awake to feel anything malicious. We never thought to have the barrier scan for darkness in those passing through. It would have drained a lot of energy from Esme." At that moment, Charlie's body raised a hand and beckoned us outside with one finger. I looked up at Edward again, and his face was set. We had to go, and he was prepared for whatever Charlie might do.

We quickly walked downstairs, grasping each other's hands tightly, and did not stop, even when everyone staying in the house looked out of their rooms to see what was going on. I could hear them following us, but they stopped when we reached the front door. The rest of Edward's family was in the living room, watching him from the window. We looked at them and they looked back, silently telling us that they were right there to help if need be, but to still be careful. We nodded once, and they beckoned our followers in with them as we walked out the door.

We stopped twenty feet away from Charlie's body, having no desire to get any closer. He said nothing for a while, and neither did we. He just stood there, his scarlet eyes blank and his face slack, like he was waiting for something. He didn't even blink, but I guess he didn't have to: he was dead. Edward and I glanced at each other, but only for a moment. Neither of us felt comfortable taking our eyes off him, or our focus, for that matter; we didn't even communicate telepathically. I felt my heart beating erratically in fear and anxiety, and Edward squeezed my hand, probably being able to hear it. Charlie—no, _the body_, suddenly jerked to a ramrod-straight pose, his eyes brightening with thought again.

"She is here, Isabella, at the border of your sanctuary. I do not suppose you would be so kind as to let her in?" it asked. I didn't reply, and an evil grin split its face. "I did not think you would, so I will do the honor." Edward and I tensed, unable to understand what he was about to do, or, more importantly, _how_.

He raised his arms above his head and spread his fingers, his palms facing the sky. His shadow flew from the ground and up his body, pooling in his palms. It grew and grew the longer he stood there, and Edward suddenly began gathering his own energy. I could feel his body getting warmer from his position right behind me, but he wasn't fast enough. It slammed the pooled shadow straight into the ground, leaving a blackened mark on the ground where the grass used to be. A piercing scream erupted from the house behind us, and I turned to see Esme fall from view. My head whipped around as the forest, and even the sky, seemed to waver in pain as Esme's spell fell apart around us.

A black fog slowly crept towards us, rolling over the ground and scorching anything living with its touch. The trees turned a dull brown and their leaves fell to the dying earth, brown and brittle. The small blades of grass lost their healthy green color, crackling with the steps of someone approaching. A bird fell from a nearby tree, its chest still with its sudden death. Even the air we were breathing seemed to have turned toxic, my breaths coming faster and faster, and yet I still felt like I was unable to breathe.

"Do you feel yourself weakening, Isabella?" the body said. I looked at it and gasped, unable to turn away as it fell apart before my eyes.

*******The amount of power that he had wielded seemed to have been too much for the body to handle. The skin was sloughing off the bones, falling to the ground in disintegrating heaps. He smirked at me with his skeletal mouth, the bones of his jaw and teeth clearly visible without the cover of skin to hide it. His arms looked to be stuck in the ground, but he didn't care. He kept staring at me with quickly disappearing eyes, the sockets they had once inhabited looking back at me after only a few seconds. His hair fell from his head all at once and circled around him, and his clothes hung off his now completely skeletal form. Only a few seconds passed before he lost his form, the bones falling into a pile where he once was. They kept decaying there on the ground, and turned to powder before slowly disappearing into it.*******

I still couldn't look away. What I just saw kept replaying in my mind, making my stomach flip in disgust. It was like something from a sick horror movie. His words rang through me as the images kept flashing in my mind, and I immediately felt weaker, cold. My knees felt like they were going to give out. I could barely hold my head up. My eyes wouldn't stay open on their own. My chest felt like someone had skewered me. I leaned against Edward and he wrapped his arms around my waist, worry radiating from his body into mine. I raised my hand to the middle of my chest, trying to tell him what was going on, but I couldn't speak. He gently lowered me to the ground and held my shoulders. He quickly took one hand and placed it in the middle of my chest, his power warming me as it traveled through my body. It focused on my chest and he tried to hold in a gasp, but I heard it.

"She's . . . she's using the . . . wound her puppet left . . . when it killed Charlie. She's using it to make you weaker, Bella. Your grief over his death . . . it must be good enough to let her in . . . or she's using the effect seeing Charlie's . . . body had on you as a way to get in," Edward said, tears evident in his voice. "You still have all of your power, Bella. She's just weakening your physical body."

"Correct, Edward. Absolutely correct," a new voice said, purring to him. It was the same voice from Alice's vision. I fought with myself to get my eyes open, and the fatigue washed from me as soon as I saw her.

Her form rose out of the black fog, growing to about my own height before filling out to look more human-shaped. Her clothes were as black as the shadows around her, and her eyes were just as red as those of the minions that formed around her. She smiled at me, a maniacal smile that showed just how much the darkness had affected her. A black halo appeared around her head, but she paid no attention to anything but Edward and me on the ground, and I could only pay attention to her. At least, until Edward spoke.

"Isabella," he said, but not to me. He was looking at the girl cloaked in utter darkness, and something clicked in my head. He knew who she was, and now, so did I.

His former and last charge as an angel before he was turned.

The girl he died trying to save.

**A/N: So, now you know how Charlie was back again. I already have chapter 17 written, so give me 7 reviews and it'll be up that day. You got to 6 the last time, so one more person was all it woulod have taken.**

**Also, I have a poll up about the future of this story, so please go vote on it! Don't worry, I'm going to finish the story. It's about what will happen afterwards.**

_**~Angels of Twilight**_


	17. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17: Battleground**

She looked exactly as I had seen her when she took over the witch's body, my own form with barely perceptible differences as hints to who was who. She was staring at Edward with those scarlet eyes, now paying absolutely no attention to me at all. His grip on my body was tight, almost uncomfortably so, but he didn't seem to notice; he was too shocked at the sight before him.

"It is nice to see you again, Edward," her voice purred, a slight slur betraying the touch of madness in her from the darkness.

He started shaking, his grip getting tighter, literally crushing me to his chest. I didn't have the strength to push against him, I could only wiggle in his grip and hope he heard my struggles for breath. He did thankfully, looking down at me with a confused look before he realized why I was trying to get away. He immediately released me, keeping his arms around me so I didn't fall to the ground, and I slumped against his chest. My chest heaved up and down, trying to catch my breath, and spasms of pain shot through my sides with every inhale. It wasn't unbearable, but I knew he had bruised me. He seemed to realize this too, a look of guilt and pain of his own marring the features I had come to love. I gave him a small smile, an understanding smile, but he didn't seem to accept it. The guilt faded, but not in the way I wanted. It was still there, but he had something else to concentrate on.

"What do you want?" he snarled at the girl, _Isabella_. His eyes turned black with his anger, his fear of what could happen. She just smiled for a moment, infuriating him more, before she answered.

"I am here, my dearest Edward, to kill that girl," she said, pointing directly at me. He growled at her, holding me to his chest again, but nothing like he had been. "Once I do that, I will have all of her abilities, as well as her admittedly strong power source. I will take her place as Queen of Arcadia. It's as simple as that." She looked at Edward differently now, no longer like a long-lost lover, but the reason she was not in my position to begin with. I quickly realized, as my power slowly flooded through my body as she concentrated on Edward instead, that she must not have known what exactly happened that day. She must have assumed, when she saw her guardian angel, that he was just watching as the events played themselves out instead of helping her, saving her. She didn't know how wrong she was, and she wasn't going to let us explain.

"I'm going to kill her, Edward, and there is nothing you can do to stop me. She is going to die knowing you did nothing to save her, just like me. You did this to me, Edward, because of _you_, I am like this, and she is going to pay the price for it. She took my place in fate's eyes when you let me die, and I want what is rightly mine!" she yelled, her voice getting louder and louder. Her minions seemed to grow more and more uncomfortable, antsy, with her increasingly restless emotions, and I watched them with my own sense of anxiety, a good dose of fear flooding me as well. One, though, directly behind her, seemed to be growing more and more excited. I watched it for a moment, and had to blink at who I saw looking back at me. It looked like it had been Jacob, but in the next moment, the shadows covered the face from view again. I could feel fear in the others, too, along with confusion, from their positions behind us.

"What . . . What are you talking about?" Edward whispered, still holing me against him, he turned slightly, so he was more in between me and the girl. Her red eyes flashed even brighter for a second before reverting back to their original red.

"What am I talking about? You know _exactly_ what I'm talking about, _Edward_," she said, sneering his name. "I saw you come out of thin air when I was attacked. I know you just stood there and watched as they drained me like a freaking _shot glass_ and left me to change _by myself_! I know you left after that, even though you _knew_ I needed help! What did your hateful Gods do, _reassign_ you as soon as they knew I was a goner?" she screamed, her eyes flashing in her rage. Edward slowly shook his head.

"No, that's not-" he started, but she wouldn't hear it.

"_No!_ No, that's _exactly_ what happened! Don't try to _lie_ to me, Edward! I _know_ what you did, and I _know_ what it did to _me_!" she screamed at him, the darkness surrounding her swirling around her small frame in her anger. A small piece flew from the shadow, heading right for Edward. He threw out a hand and I placed mine on his chest. I sent a burst of energy into him just as he sent his own out to defend against the darkness. The energies crashed together and dissipated into little vapors, more light than dark. I felt his surprise at my use of power so soon after she had weakened me, but he didn't let it show.

_Don't let her know you can do that just yet_, he whispered, and I lowered my head against his chest, letting him know I heard him. He stood with me, still holding most of my weight with one arm, and I clung to his shirt, panting like it was taking all I had left to stay upright. She still didn't pay any attention, but I kept up the charade anyway.

"This is not your fight, Edward," she snarled. "I am here to win what should have been mine to begin with, but getting revenge on you is a nice addition. Step away from the girl so I can finally get what I deserve." He stayed next to me, turning even more so his back was almost to her. His eyes, though, never strayed from her face. I watched as her scowl turned into a smirk and her shadow puppets slowly started moving forward as one unit. I had a flashback of the night they came for Charlie, how it sounded like only one touch caused his death, and flinched, a small whimper escaping my lips.

"That's right, little girl," she said smugly. "All it took to kill your father was one brief touch from one of my servants here. He died instantly, and that brief touch would have felt like it was never going to end before he actually died. And if Edward does not move and let me get what I want, the same will happen to him and the rest of this abomination you call a family. I'd convince him to step away if I were you." I looked up at him as soon as she mentioned Charlie's death, but he still wouldn't look away from her. His body was tense against mine, braced for whatever she was going to do next. When she said what she was going to go to Edward, to my family, I took his shirt in my fist and pushed against him. It had no effect, but he finally looked at me, even if it was only for a second.

"Edward, you have to go. Take our family and go," I pleaded, but he shook his head. I could feel his worry, and tapped into his mind for a moment. He was replaying Alice's vision, confused that nothing was happening the way she had seen it. I didn't mind though, hoping maybe things would turn out better. But that wasn't my concern at that moment. "Edward you need to go. She'll kill you if you stay, and the others too. Please, Edward . . . go." He shook his head again.

"No. I said I would protect you, and I can't do that if I'm not here with you," he said, his body flinching as he fought not to crush me again. I put my hands on the sides of his face, my heart beating faster and faster as the puppets continued to circle around us, preventing any escape or interference. He noticed them just as I did, and shook his head again. "I can't leave you here to face them alone, Bella," he whispered. A tear slipped down my cheek as I stared at his face, his desperation flooding my body through his eyes.

"You can't help me by staying here, Edward. If you stay here, she's going to have them kill you," I said, hoping he heard my suggestion. I wanted him to find a way to help me, to help me beat her without the result Alice saw in her vision. I didn't want to die, especially now that I was finally realizing the life I was supposed to be living all along, and who I was supposed to be living it with.

Something flashed in Edward's eyes as he looked at me, and I realized I let my shield fall, or her attack on my body had, and never put it back up. I could see something happening in him, something that told me he already had an idea, but it quickly faded back to his desperation. It was different this time, though, and I quickly recognized it as the mask he wanted it to be, to fool her into believing he was giving up. He kissed me with a passion that could have been a goodbye had I not known better; he was giving me the hope I needed to survive until he could get his plan together. He pulled away after a second and both of us noticed the shadows had frozen in their places: we had convinced her. He pecked me again and slowly stepped back away from me, so she still thought he had been holding me up. I let my knees buckle at first and he paused until I got them sturdy again. He slowly let go of my arms and I let a sob escape my throat as he continued to walk backward, the shadows behind him moving to create a safe path for him to exit the battleground. The puppets moved back to their places once he was safely through, Esme and Alice holding his trembling form.

I looked at those surrounding me before I turned back to Isabella, their red eyes telling me what I wasn't sure of before. Desperation and pleas for forgiveness, for help looked back at me from most of those faces. The others had no conscience, had no humanity in them; they were never human to begin with. As I saw where these . . . _beings_ were, I realized something else, something that made me feel physically ill. The poisonous black shadows that made up the puppets looked like it was actually controlling those who looked back at me with emotion; they were swathed in those shrouds of pure evil and malice, and they were not strong enough to break away. I tried to tell them how sorry I was that they were brought into this, that she was using them to get to me, and show them the determination I had to set them free. I swung around to face Isabella, a brief look of shock crossing her features as she realized I was at full power again, but I didn't comment on that.

"Let's get this over with," I said. "No more games." She smiled and inclined her head slightly in agreement.

"Let's. I think I've waited long enough," she said, smiling in delight.

She put her hands at her sides and turned so her palms were facing me, the shadows swirling around her feet climbing up her legs like claws and pooling in her hands. I mirrored her stance, reveling in the feeling of life and light wrapping me in its embrace. I coaxed it into my hands, asking it to help me protect my family and the people I was supposed to watch over, those she threatened as long as she continued to be the way she was. My hands started to glow with power, with nature's willingness to help me, and I looked up at her.

She made the first move, hurling her darkness at me, and the battle for Arcadia was on.

**A/N: . . . Uh . . . Correction, there are 3 chapters left. Sorry about that, but that's what happens when you write the way I do! XD**

**Again I will offer you the chance to get the next chapter early for 7 reviews. I've only gotten six the past two times I've done this, so it'll only take one more to do it. That's it! But it's up to you. **_**I actually have this story finished, so I'm willing to keep putting up chapters early as long as I get those 7 reviews. Otherwise, you'll have to wait a week in between each one like normal!**_

**And don't forget to vote on the poll!**

_**~Angels of Twilight**_


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18: A Sacrifice**

Our energies collided in a burst of power, blinding me for a second. I blinked away the blackness and kept moving, making sure not to stay in one place too long. Another black ball shot right past my face, the air growing cold next to my cheek as it went by. A black fog enveloped me, making it impossible to see anything besides what was right in front of me. She kept firing at me, not giving me a chance to find out where she was before she released another.

"Are you getting tired yet, _Bella_?" she sneered, her voice seeming to come from every direction. My breaths were coming in gasps as I continued to evade her attacks, and I didn't waste a breath answering her. "I am having so much fun! Aren't you, Bella?" she said tauntingly. I still didn't answer, and she gave an evil laugh.

"Surely, you can put up a better fight than this!" she exclaimed in mock concern. "The person that's supposed to be my opposite should be able to fight me, I think. Unless, of course, you are as weak as I am strong. Are you weak, Bella? Are you ready to fail and give me this world? Wrap it up all nice with a little black bow on top?" She laughed again as one of her attacks hit my shoulder.

It burned like I was on fire, and I immediately fell to one knee, clutching my left shoulder. I threw up a barrier around myself and watched as attack after attack glanced off it. They came from random directions, not giving me even the slightest hint of her position, but I suddenly came up with a possible explanation.

_Maybe . . ._ I thought, as I tried not to breathe too deeply and hurt my shoulder more, _maybe she's using the _fog_ for her attacks! Maybe she can command the darkness even when it isn't in her hands, and is attacking me while she stands in one spot!_

I felt pleased with myself for figuring that out, but it didn't help me. I had moved and twisted around so much trying to evade her attacks, I had no idea where she had originally been standing. I slowly moved my arm down in between my body and my leg, hissing in pain. I leaned into my leg so it wouldn't move and put my free hand flat on the ground. I closed my eyes and breathed in as deeply as I could—basically, until pain shot through my shoulder—and focused energy into the ground. I looked for hers, the spot in the ground that would be dead because of her presence, and found it directly in front of me. I pooled the energy under her, focusing on a glowing white ball of light, and forced it up out of the ground and at her. She screamed in pain and the fog seemed to slingshot back to her, wrapping her in its grip. She had her arms wrapped around herself and was bent forward at the waist, obviously in pain. She was hissing as she breathed, and her head suddenly shot up so she was glaring at me.

Isabella flung her hands out at me, throwing the largest ball of energy yet. It completely disintegrated my shield on impact, and blew me onto my back. I gasped as my shoulder hit the ground, and a tear spilled from my eye. I watched from my position on the ground as she straightened herself, her body visibly burned from where my power had wrapped around her. It looked like she had been wrapped in something hot and was burned in the shape of a spiral going around her. She held one hand out from her side her palm facing her leg and her hand moving so it looked like it should be holding something. I didn't have to wait long to find out what was supposed to be there.

Darkness pooled in her palm and suddenly shot out towards me, stopping at about two and a half feet from her hand. The darkness swirled around and around, slowly changing form until it looked like a long blade. My eyes widened, and Alice's vision flashed before my eyes; the beginning had changed, but it looked like the end would still be the same. Hopefully for Edward and my sakes, it would.

"You will not win this fight, Bella," she said as shadows seemed to drip from the end of her blade.

I started building my own blade in my right hand, keeping my arm plastered to my side so it wouldn't move and hurt my shoulder. My attempt to defend myself seemed to amuse her, a small smile appearing on her face. I shifted so I was kneeling and stood shakily before she attacked, using her enhanced speed to evade me.

She ran around to my back and slashed me before I even knew she was there, immediately running off again so I fast I couldn't track her. I gasped in pain, feeling it sear from my right shoulder to my left hip, the opposite shoulder of my burn. She appeared in front of me and cut a long gash down my arm, the shallow line immediately beading with blood. I lashed out as soon as I felt the air cool around me, spinning in a circle with my blade arm out so it sliced the air. I felt it hit resistance and kept going, hearing her hiss in pain as another slice marked my upper arm.

She still stayed hidden, running randomly around me so I couldn't tell where the air was coldest again, but I could hear her pained breaths. I saw her puppets and captives start to fidget, unsettled by their master's pain, but unable to do anything until they were allowed. She took my observance as an opportunity to attack again; she slashed across the backs of my calves, moving to slash across my stomach in the next instant. I gasped and fell to my knees, my arm covering the bleeding wound in my stomach; I didn't want to drop the only weapon I had.

I was sitting in my own blood by the time she decided to stop. She stood in front of me with a smile on her face. She took two steps towards me, apparently able to tell I was no longer able to defend myself with the blade I had made, and raised her free hand. She hit me with everything her vampire body had, sending me flying across the ground. I could hear people shouting my name as I hit the ground with a sickening crack, right on the arm connected to my burned shoulder. My body flopped onto my back and I laid there, unable to make a sound even though I wanted so badly to scream out my pain. It just wouldn't come out, and I laid there screaming silently until I didn't have the energy to do so anymore. She stood over me, her blade at my neck just like we'd seen it, darkness and my blood dripping from the tip.

"I told you I'd win," she sneered. I just glared, letting my pride at the wounds I was able to inflict on her show. I could see her get angrier when she noticed, the tip of the blade pricking my skin under my neck.

"You tried to be a martyr, and look where it got you. You were willing to sacrifice your life to try to save them, but I still win. And you still lose." She waited for me to answer in some way, but I didn't. I was too busy concentrating on the glowing light from behind me. She noticed a second later, her eyes widening in shock. I turned around, her arm falling to her side and freeing me from the danger of her blade, and I must have looked as shocked as she did; I couldn't help it, with what I found.

Edward was standing behind the line of puppets and captives, his arms out at his sides with his palms facing us. Behind him, though, was a group of what looked like every single Arcadian from within a fifty-mile radius of where we were. I couldn't even see them all from my position on the ground, but Isabella's eyes told me there were _a lot_. I could see Edward's form slowly getting brighter and brighter, everyone behind him glowing as well. Their light flew to him, and he gathered it in himself, his eyes closed in concentration. It became practically impossible to look at him anymore, and he finally opened his eyes; they were completely white with the glowing power within him.

_Are you ready, Bella?_ He asked me in my mind. It took a second to process what he was saying, and I finally realized _this_ was his idea, the one he had been willing to leave me for.

_The only way to defeat the Dark One will be to join the essence of all of the powers she has obtained and use them to counter the black magic of the Dark One. As long as the Seer fights alone, there will be no hope of victory or survival . . ._

It was the passage from the notebook . . . He had figured out how to concentrate all of my powers, but from the original sources themselves! Now he was just waiting for my signal to send the power to me so I could use it to finish this . . . so I stood. It took me a while, and a lot of pain, but I was finally able to stand without almost falling over. I could feel waves of worry and regret flowing from Edward's mind to mine as he watched, but I kept my face determined. I couldn't let him see how much it hurt to do this, especially since he could already feel it.

_Just let it pass right through you, Bella. Don't try to hold it_, he said, and I could hear the tightness in his voice, like he was straining to hold it all in.

I nodded once and he spread his wings to their full span, causing Isabella to jump back in fear. His body hovered a few feet above the ground and he brought his hands in from of him, the heels of his hands touching and pointing at me. I turned around and did the same towards her, using a large amount of the power I had left to form a barrier around her so she couldn't escape. I felt the power come closer and closer to me, a warm hum getting louder and louder as the distance between my bleeding form and it disappeared. Isabella screamed when she saw what was happening, and I smiled; it was the last thing she'd ever do.

The power caressed my spine with its warmth, flowed through my body, and erupted out of my palms with a force I hadn't expected with the way it entered me. It spiraled towards Isabella and absorbed my barrier into itself as soon as it touched my flimsy wall. It passed through my mind for just a moment about how surprising it was that it was able to hold her. Then again, any touch of light seemed to cause her great pain.

The touch of this stream of power was nothing compared to that. She screamed to the sky, like she was pleading for help, but I knew none would come from there for her. The light swallowed her entire body, completely eradicating her until there was nothing left except for the scorch in the ground from where she had been. The power built up over the spot in a funnel, circling higher and higher towards the sky until it stopped, although it continued its swirling. My back quickly grew cold with the loss of the flow of power, and it slowly stopped coming from my palms. I fell to my knees, completely drained of any kind of power, and watched the tornado of power before me.

It suddenly plunged to the ground, spreading out around the makeshift battlefield on impact. All of the puppets immediately disappeared in a ghost of their master's screams, and the captives fell to the ground, unconscious and free of the binds that had held them for who know how long. All except one.

_Jacob._

He was standing right next to the spot Isabella had been standing on, and the light was swirling around him; he was fighting it, trying to keep it away. My eyes widened and my breath froze in my chest. Edward and I had known something was up with him, but I didn't think he was up to something like this.

"You should have been with _me_, Bella, not that _leech_," he snarled, his body starting to lose against the light. "What was so wrong with _me_, Bella? I wasn't good enough, so you decided to go to someone who isn't even _alive_? You're _disgusting_, Bella Swan! You _disgust_ me!" he screamed, before his body disappeared into light. There was absolutely nothing left of him but his hateful words replaying over and over in my increasingly sluggish mind. I couldn't focus on him now, though.

I looked around at the others that were still alive, seeing the last of those fighting the light perish. I could sense no more darkness in them and smiled to myself as my eyes drooped. My chin hit my chest before I remembered someone else I had to check on before I passed out.

_Edward . . ._

I turned my head to look behind me to see something I would have given anything not to. He was lying on his back on the ground, his body broken and literally breaking apart. I could see his chest rising and falling quickly and dragged myself over to him, ignoring my body's screams of pain in my arms and back. I kneeled next to him, placing my hand gently on the side of his face.

This was nothing like how Charlie's body had fallen apart. His body had separated and disappeared into the ground. Edward . . . Edward was disappearing, but he was going up into the sky. It was like his body was going back t where it belonged, atom by atom, cell by cell, but he was feeling nothing of it. The tiny rain drop-like pieces flew into the sky, quickly disappearing from sight, and his body grew more and more transparent. I could feel his face quickly disappearing from beneath my skin, his breathing slowing down.

"What . . . What did you _do_?" I asked in a whisper, unsure that he would be able to hear me. I looked down next to me, where his wings were completely see-through, like they had been when they first started appearing again, and felt someone come up behind me. They stayed a few feet back, but I could feel them there. Many more quickly joined, and I looked in front of me to see the crowd he had brought standing there watching, solemn looks on their faces masking the sadness I could obviously see underneath.

_I helped you . . . I protected you, just like I said I would . . ._ his voice said, seeming to come from the air itself. Edward's lips never moved, but I knew it was him. The gasps from around me said his voice was not just to me anymore.

"You knew this was going to happen, didn't you?" I asked, trying to sound angry at what he had sacrificed. I should have been the one in his position, not him. I was the one that was supposed to sacrifice everything to save my people, not him. This was not supposed to be the means that brought about the end . . . It was supposed to be me . . .

"It was supposed to be me," I said, before I realized what I was doing. I could feel his smile, even if his body didn't reflect it.

_I realized what would happen to you when I saw just how much power you would be controlling, and I couldn't let that happen. If you were to die, Bella, there would be no Seer to rule our people. If you won't accept that I did this to save you, then think of those that would have been without their ruler, their Queen_, he said. I shook my head as tears rained down on his almost completely absent body. I could see the grass through him just as well as if he wasn't there at all. His form was starting to waver under my touch; he was almost completely gone. I quickly bent down and kissed his clear lips, my tears falling straight through him. I sat up just enough to break the touch, and he spoke one last time.

_Don't fret, love. No one is really gone for good. I love you, Bella, and I will always protect you. Remember that._

And then he was gone, body and voice, except for one tiny feather about half the size of my palm. I picked it up gently, cupping it in my hands like it was about to vanish like my love. I stared down at all I had left, my tears falling around it as I sobbed openly, unable to stop the sounds that escaped my lips. I brought the tiny reminder to my chest and my body folded in on itself as I passed out, still clutching the little down feather to me.

**A/N: DON'T KILL ME YET! We've still got the 2-part epilogue left, and THEN you can do as you please! I hope you liked it, besides the little "Edward died" thing . . .**

**And awesome job getting the 7 reviews! I actually got 8! I would have posted this morning, but I had to be at work at 8 and got up at 7, so there was no time. If you do it again, I may be persuaded into posting part one early…**

_**~Angels of Twilight**_


	19. Epilogue Part 1

**Epilogue Part 1: The Photo**

Three months . . . It's been three months since the battle that ridded the world of my doppelganger, Isabella . . . It's been three months since the love of my life sacrificed himself in that battle to save me and ensure my victory . . . since I stopped living my life.

It's been two months since I learned I was pregnant, that Edward had been one of very few vampires that could impregnate a human.

It's been one month since I gave birth. Our twins, a boy and a girl, Michael and Gabrielle, were born only two months after Edward and I had made love, their development enhanced because of who they were born to.

Carlisle was shocked they survived after the extent of my injuries during the fight; I had almost bled out by the time he was able to work on me. He said he heart their fluttering heartbeats, just a few every minute because they had only just been conceived the night before, when he was assessing my condition later that day, and he had immediately told the family of his discovery. They had been ecstatic at the thought of children in their house, still confused, of course, but completely ecstatic. It was what the family needed after such a loss.

There was something else that confused us, but I had my own theory about that. Neither of our children were vampires, nor did they show any of the signs of being partially a vampire, like cold skin with a beating heart. Every time I thought of this, I thought of the feeling of the power I had channeled flowing through me, how it had swirled around in my stomach before exiting through my hands. I was fairly certain that that energy, such pure power, had eradicated any trace of their father's vampirism from them. They were left only with my powers and the powers of their angel father.

They already had developed into the forms of a year-old human child, but their mental capacities were far greater. Carlisle guessed them to have the intelligence of eight or nine year olds, which meant they were asking about their dad. I had no idea what to tell them, and almost burst into tears when Michael first mentioned him . . .

_I was sitting on the couch with the T.V. on, but I wasn't paying any attention to it. I didn't pay attention to anything anymore, except my babies. They were the only ones who could bring me out of my grief-filled stupor, my hopeless state that repeated over and over in my mind that I couldn't function without _him_ . . . If he wasn't there with me, I wasn't complete._

_Michael came into the room on his short little legs, walking like a penguin since bending his knees didn't do too much for him at his two and a half foot height. He as only a month old and was already walking around the house like he had been doing it for months. He had the same messy bronze locks Edward had, and his eyes were the same as both of ours; they changed with his mood. I was told when I finally woke up after the fight that my eyes had changed, that they were the same as Edward's. All four of us had the same eyes, and I saw Edward in both of them every time I saw them. Gabrielle had my hair, but Edward was just as much a part of her as I was._

_Michael easily pulled himself up onto the couch next to me and I smiled down at him as he settled himself on my lap. He held something up to me, and I gasped when I realized what it was: a picture of Edward. He was smiling brightly at the person taking the picture, his topaz eyes sparkling with joy and life. And love._

_I remembered when this was taken. It was just before he had gotten his wings back, on one of the very few peaceful moments we had together. I had jokingly said I needed a picture of him, something to keep with me incase anything ever happened. We had known something might happen, seeing what happened to Charlie, but there hadn't been anything going on at that moment. I had taken the picture right before he tried to take the camera from me, running around our room and continuously hitting the button to take the picture. This had been the best one, and I printed it out. I couldn't remember what happened to it, but Michael had found it._

"_Daddy?" he asked, looking up at me. I felt a tear fall down my face and nodded, trying to give him a happy smile. His frown told me I failed._

"_Momma sad," he said, his own eyes getting glassy and blue with his own sadness. I shook my head, hugging him to my chest._

"_No, don't cry, baby. Mommy just misses daddy. Mommy's okay," I said quickly. He tilted his head slightly, squinting his now clear eyes at me in thought._

"_Where daddy go?" he asked me. I had to swallow multiple times to get rid of the lump, but he waited patiently._

"_Daddy left, baby. Remember when mommy told you daddy was an angel? That he was a good person that went to Heaven and they asked him to help people?" I asked him. He nodded briskly, wanting to please me. "Well, daddy's with the other angels now. Daddy saved mommy, he kept mommy from dying so she could help people like he did." His mouth formed a small "o" of understanding._

"_Daddy was a good person?" he asked. I nodded just as briskly as he just had._

"_He was a very good person, hon." His little face twisted with a look of determination and I smiled down at him._

"_I wanna be like daddy, momma. I'm gonna be just like daddy!" he yelled, jumping off the couch and speed-walking out of the living room. I smiled after him, another tear falling down my face as I watched him._

I was looking at that same picture now, sitting in the same position I had been that day two weeks ago. My tears were falling onto the photo, the glossy coating making them run off onto my lap. I was sobbing freely, unable and not wanting to restrain myself anymore. I didn't have to worry about either of the kids coming in and seeing me; Alice and Rose had taken Gabrielle shopping for the third time this month, and Michael was outside playing in the newly fallen snow with Jasper and Emmet. Both of the twins had shown signs of being able to turn into animals, and they knew the powers of their family members, but they didn't know any better. I had adamantly refused to return to the human world after everything that happened; I wouldn't raise my kids the way I was, completely oblivious of the life they were supposed to be living. None of us knew if they had any other powers yet, but Carlisle, Jasper, and I thought they would probably eventually develop many, if not all, of the powers Edward and I had.

"Why did you have to leave me?" I asked quietly, my finger tracing the line of Edward's jaw in the picture. I desired so much to be able to go back to that moment, where we were so carefree, so happy, so . . . together. I didn't regret the fact that I was a mother now. I loved the twins, but things would be so much better, so much _easier_, if their father was here with me.

I reached up with one hand and closed it around the stone hanging right above my cleavage, resting their like a heavy reminder of what I could have had. Right after I had woken up, I went out into the woods searching for the right stone, the right stone to hold my memory inside it forever. After two hours of searching the forest, I found it half buried at the base of an oak tree. It was an emerald-colored stone that was slightly larger than a fifty-cent piece, the same color I remembered Edward telling me his eyes were when he was human and an angel, before he was turned.

I had taken it back to our room and cleaned it up, rinsing off the dirt and drying it in a soft towel. I placed it on the dresser and concentrated on the power I had gotten from the trolls, the ability to control metal and stones, and coupled it with Edward's ability to control earth. I made one side of the stone softer and made a bowl in the middle, pushing the extra to one side. Gently, I picked up the little down feather and placed it inside so the stem was facing up and the feather curved towards the back. I pushed the build-up back over the hole to lock it in place and flattened the back of the stone. I made the rest of the stone softer and ran my fingers over it, shaping the green gem into a tear-drop shape and putting a small hole at the top and making the stone hard again, adding to the original strength. I threaded a loop of leather strip through the hole, and passed the two ends through the loop to secure the stone in place. I knotted the two ends twice and pulled at the knot, only putting it over my head until I was completely satisfied that it would hold.

I remembered the whole process like I had just done it not two seconds ago, and yet it felt like a lifetime had passed since then. I placed the gem in my palm and looked down at it, pleased with my work, but feeling the burning pain that told me it would never be enough. That feather would never go anywhere now, but it's not the feather I wanted.

A gust of wind blew through the living room from a half-cracked window, sending a shiver through my body and my picture flying out of my lap. It glided into the main hall and slipped right under the front door.

"No!" I shouted, running after it. I was so desperate t get the picture back, I didn't even think about stopping the wind, about using my power. It was such a raw need to get that photo back, to get one of the only things I had of Edward back, that any rational thought immediately left my mind. It was also why, when I threw open the front door, I didn't think about watching for the stairs.

I completely missed the three porch steps and was heading straight for the ground. I had enough time to put my hands out to catch myself, but the impact I had been expecting never came. Instead of hitting the gravel sidewalk like I thought I would, I hit something soft, warm, and extremely familiar in some way that sent a welcome tingle throughout my body. Whoever caught me set me gently on my feet, making sure I was going to stand on my own before taking away their hands. I almost whimpered at the loss of contact, so similar to his, before I realized I didn't even know who caught me.

I slowly looked up from the ground, taking in my savior's form from is feet up. His body was well-toned and lean, not overly muscular, and his hands were adorned with long, slender pianist's fingers. His arms were muscular, his shoulders willing to take the weight of the world, but his face is what made my breath catch in my throat. What I noticed about the rest of him had stirred something in the back of my head, some kind of recognition, but my mind was in such a state of denial that I hadn't paid any attention to it.

His messy bronze hair, his bright, joyous eyes, his smooth lips . . .

"Edward . . ."

**A/N: . . . I'm so cruel . . . but the next chapter is done, so give me 7 reviews and it'll go up! That's all it'll take! Since this one was only posted a day early, I'm going to post the last chapter (part 2) next Friday unless I get the 7. I'm not trying to be cruel—again, for the second time in one sitting…-but I really don't want to post a chapter the day after the last one, especially with the next chapter being the end. Sorry!**

_**~Angels of Twilight**_


	20. Epilogue Part 2

**A/N: Awesome job, guys. Really awesome. :]**

**Epilogue Part 2: A Father**

"Edward . . ." I whispered, still unable to accept what was right in front of me. "It can't be . . ." He smiled sadly.

"It's really me, Bella," his soft-as-velvet voice said, caressing my skin with the sound. "I told you I'd protect you, didn't I? I told you to remember that." My breaths sped up faster and faster as I looked at him, and I slowly raised my hand to his cheek. My palm touched skin, soft, warm, skin, but it was real. He turned his face into my hand and inhaled, breathing me in like I had wanted to do to him for so long. His lips touched my palm in a small kiss, his hand holding mine still, before he looked at me again.

"How . . ." I stared to ask, but I didn't know what I wanted to know. How did he survive? How was he here? How wasn't he dead?

"I can't really die, Bella. Angels are stuck in limbo until they decide to move on. They are not alive, but they are not dead. I only lost my form, Bella, but I didn't have enough time to explain that to you. That's was why I was so willing to do it. I knew I'd come back. That's why I told you—"

"That no one every truly dies . . ." I finished for him. My mind was reeling with what he had just told me, and something caught my attention. "You weren't trying to contain the energy, you were trying to hold yourself together long enough to pass it on to me. It was too much for your body to hold, and you fell apart." He nodded once. I looked down at the ground, thinking, before looking up at him again. He was just standing there with his face in my palm, his eyes closed. "But . . . what now?" He smiled, like he was expecting that question.

"Now, my Bella, we live the life we always thought about but could not have until the threat to you was gone. She is," he said, like it was the answer to every possible question, so sure of himself. I would have gladly accepted that and not questioned him more, but I needed to be sure of something, sure I wouldn't lose him for some reason so soon after I got him back.

"You . . . Are you . . . _you_?" I asked. I knew I wasn't being very articulate, but his smile told me he knew exactly what I was thinking. He brought my hand down from his face to his chest, directly over his heart. His beating heart.

"I am more me than I have been in a long time, Bella," he said softly, slowly spreading his wings and wrapping them around my now shivering form. I hadn't even noticed the snow falling on me. My whole body was soaked and freezing, but I didn't care. His wings around me were like an insulated blanket, and his body so close to mine kept me just as warm as I would have been inside. The tears streaming down my face were warm as well.

"And you're not . . ." I started, hesitating. He gave me another small smile and shook his head, running his thumb over the back of my hand.

"No. That is all me," he said, looking down at my hand. I smiled in wonder as his heart continued to beat strongly under my touch before I lunged at him, my arms wrapping around his waist. I cried into his naked shoulder and he buried his face in my hair, speaking soothing words in my ear as he wrapped his arms securely around me.

At some point I raised my face from his skin and plastered my lips to his and burying my hands in the hair on the back of his head. He immediately responded, moving his lips against mine and moving his own hands up to my face. I kissed him hungrily, needing to feel him against me, and my tears were still falling down my face. My tongue shot out and ran along his bottom lip and he immediately opened his mouth to me. We continued kissing, our tongues battling for dominance before I finally had to break away for air. He peppered my face with butterfly kisses as I fought to catch my breath. I moved my hands down his chest and wrapped my arms around him again as he continued to kiss the side of my neck. He stopped a few kisses later and I buried my face into the crook of his neck, breathing in the scent I thought I'd never smell again. A mix of the sea and freshly fallen rain. He wrapped his arms around my shoulders and rested his head on mine, sighing in contentment. I don't know how long I stood there in his embrace, but I finally looked up when someone called me, one of the two little someones who had been my rocks while I tried and failed to deal with losing Edward.

"Momma?" Michael called from the porch. I pulled back from Edward, wiping my eyes and leaving an arm around him before I turned to look at my son. _Our_ son. I could feel Edward staring down at me in shock, and I looked up at him with a small smile.

"There's something _you_ need to know, as well," I said, pointing out the obvious. He tilted his head to the side. "One month ago, I gave birth to twins, Edward. _Our_ twins," I explained, emphasizing who's they were. I looked back at Michael and waved him over, giving him a reassuring smile. Emmet and Jasper were standing behind him, their jaws on the ground in surprise. Emmet broke his stare long enough to pick Michael up and put him on the sidewalk, since his snowsuit restricted his movement even more than usual. Edward moved his wings a little so Michael could join us. He waddled over and stopped right next to my legs, looking up at Edward and squinting. He looked up at me and pointed at Edward.

"Daddy," he said, not even asking if he was right. I nodded once, giving him a smile. He raised his arms to me and I picked him up, settling him on my hip as Edward placed his arm around my waist. Michael rested his head on my shoulder, not taking his eyes off Edward. Edward shifted uncomfortably under his strong gaze, and I gave him a reassuring smile. He gave a tight one back, and decided to make the leap.

"What's your name?" he asked Michael gently. I looked at Michael, letting him know it was okay, and he looked at Edward.

"Mike-ow," he said, trying to get the word to come out right. He almost got the sounds, but it wasn't quite there yet. I laughed and kissed his cheek, making him squirm.

"That's right, baby. Your name is Michael. What's your sister's name?" I asked him, looking at Edward. He seemed shocked once again.

"Gabby!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. He wasn't looking at us, though, but over Edward's shoulder. Both of us turned to find a surprised Alice and Rosalie with a confused Gabrielle standing at Alice's side.

"Mikey, who dat?" she asked him, pointing at Edward. She had seen the picture of Edward, but she didn't realize who it was. Mikey explained it to her, but she was always more concerned with making me happy rather than why I was sad.

"Daddy!" Mikey explained, poking Edward in the forehead. I tried to stifle a laugh at the surprised look on Edward's face, his eyes crossing as he tried to look at the guilty finger. Gabby came running over and took my hand, looking up at Edward with her brunette head tilted like her brother's had been.

"Daddy?" she asked, looking disbelieving. I nodded.

"Yes, Gabrielle, this is your daddy. He was the one in the picture Mikey found," I explained.

She stared up at him for a few seconds before raising her hands up to him. He looked at me, shocked, and she got impatient, shaking her arms to get his attention again. I giggled and nodded at him and he slowly leaned forward, picking Gabby up under her arms. She squinted at him, suspicious, and glanced at me.

"Daddy no leave again? No make momma sad?" she asked him. Pain flashed across his face briefly before he gave her a small smile.

"No, daddy's not leaving and mommy won't be sad anymore," he answered. She nodded and smiled brightly, planting a kiss on his cheek. I was starting to get the feeling that shock was going to be the emotion of the day, at this rate.

"Gabrielle and Michael, huh?" Edward whispered, looking at me knowingly. I blushed and nodded looking at the ground. I had named them purposely, the names being those of two angels of the three ark angels I had found while researching, Rafael, Gabriel and Michael. I had to change Gabriel to the feminine version, but the purpose was still there. Gabby proceeded to poke Edward's wing, her face confused.

"Daddy fly?" she asked. A devious smile lit up Edward's face and his wings seemed to twitch in anticipation. He held out an arm towards Michael, who moved from my hip to his father's, and took a step back.

"Hold on tight," he warned, smiling as they both wrapped their little arms around his neck. He spread his wings to their full span and crouched before jumping into the air, the kids screaming in fright before the sound quickly turned to joyous laughter. I watched them from the ground, smiling in utter happiness that my life was finally the way it should be. Edward was spinning around and flipping all over, making the twins roar in delight. I felt the others come up behind me and felt Alice's small form drape an arm around me.

"I have never seen anything this romantic in my life!" she screeched in my ear. Well, as close as she could get to it. I smiled down at her, tears of joy falling once again. "Get up there, girl!" she yelled again, gesturing towards where Edward was. I smiled and nodded once, running forward and jumping into the air, my own pair of white wings erupting from my back and keeping me aloft.

Did I forget to mention the whole I-finally-got-my-wings-from-Edward's-power-after-he-was-gone thing? My bad.

I flapped my pure white wings until I was flying next to Edward, all three of them looking over at me in shock. My wings were something I had discovered only a few days after I had woken up, and also something I had kept to myself until just now. I had wandered into the woods a few times to practice, and no one ever questioned my random disappearances in the state I was in; they probably assumed I needed the air. I smiled at Edward before pointing myself at the ground, tucking my wings in until I was spiraling right towards the solid earth. I could feel Edward's gaze following me down, and I spread my fifteen foot wings again just in time to miss the ground. I shot back up towards Edward and the twins, smiling at his relieved face and kissing his lips quickly as I flew right up past him. I circled back around and stopped just under him so our wings wouldn't hit and raised my arms up to the twins.

"Mommy fly!" they both yelled simultaneously. I laughed and Gabby reached down towards me. Edward passed her down and she roped her arms around my neck tightly, her gaze looking briefly at the ground so far below us.

"Don't worry. I won't drop you, baby. Never," I whispered, kissing the side of her head.

Edward and I flew over the forest, landing in one of the large trees that towered above the others every now and then. There were two thick branches growing out from the trunk right next to each other and we settled on them, stretching out and watching as the rest of Arcadia wet about their lives, the animals flying, crawling, walking, running, hopping from one place to another, their destination only known to them. I could hear a mother calling to her child, scolding, like it had gone too far away. Everything was so serene as I watched the world turn under my watchful eye, the eye of the Arcadian Queen, and I couldn't have been happier than I was in that moment.

My family was back together, the old and the new, and we could only move on from here. There was much that would change, some soon and some later, but we would take it as it came. I thought back for just a moment to what had started all of this, how I had to lose the only person I had left in my human life to be able to move on to the life I should have been living all along. I could only hope that Charlie was happy for me, that he could see the happiness I had gained after everything I had been through. There was one thing I knew for certain, though, and it brought a small smile to my face.

I would always be his dreamer.

_**~The End~**_

**A/N: So, that's the end. I don't know if I'll do a sequel, but so far the poll looks like a thumbs up for one. Don't forget to vote on the poll if you haven't, though! Now, I really only have one thing left to say.**

**Please review, one last time, and thank you for sticking with me through this story. It was much more out of my element than I have gone with my others, but I think it turned out okay. I'd really like to hear what all of you have thought about it.**

_**~Angels of Twilight**_


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